Department of Health, Department of Health Facilities, and Department of Human Services

​Who:        DHHR Cabinet Secretary Karen L. Bowling
                 Dr. Rahul Gupta, State Health Officer and Commissioner for the Bureau for Public Health

What:       2015 Action Planning Summit 
                 West Virginia Management of Maternal Smoking (WV MOMS) Initiative
When:      Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Time:        9:00 a.m. – 10:20 a.m. 
                                      
Place:        West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources 
                  Conference Room LL50
                  One Davis Square
                  Charleston, WV  
     
  
West Virginia has the highest prevalence of tobacco use among pregnant women in the nation. In an effort to decrease the number of women who smoke before, during and after pregnancy, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR), Bureau for Public Health is hosting the first of its kind 2015 Action Planning Summit to unveil the West Virginia Management of Maternal Smoking (MOMS) Initiative. 

This summit is bringing numerous federal, state, and public/private partners together on Wednesday, December 9, 2015, at DHHR’s headquarters, located at One Davis Square in Charleston, West Virginia, to engage in strategic planning using innovative approaches that will assist women of childbearing age and the broader population in order to have the greatest impact on prenatal smoking rates. 

DHHR Cabinet Secretary Karen L. Bowling and State Health Officer and Commissioner for the Bureau for Public Health Dr. Rahul Gupta will open the day-long meeting which begins at 9 a.m.  Media are invited to attend the opening discussion. 

Attendees will include representatives of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.