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Mysterious Vaping Lung Injuries May Have Flown Under Regulatory Radar

LOS ANGELES SENTINEL — It was the arrival of the second man in his early 20s gasping for air that alarmed Dr. Dixie Harris. Young patients rarely get so sick, so fast, with a severe lung illness, and this was her second case in a matter of days. Then she saw three more patients at her Utah telehealth clinic with similar symptoms. They did not have infections, but all had been vaping. When Harris heard several teenagers in Wisconsin had been hospitalized in similar cases, she quickly alerted her state health department.

Published

5 years ago

September 4, 2019

Oakland Post

Vaping (Photo by: Grant Williams | pexels.com)

By Sydney Lupkin and Anna Maria Barry-Jester

It was the arrival of the second man in his early 20s gasping for air that alarmed Dr. Dixie Harris. Young patients rarely get so sick, so fast, with a severe lung illness, and this was her second case in a matter of days.

Then she saw three more patients at her Utah telehealth clinic with similar symptoms. They did not have infections, but all had been vaping. When Harris heard several teenagers in Wisconsin had been hospitalized in similar cases, she quickly alerted her state health department.

As patients in hospitals across the country combat a mysterious illness linked to e-cigarettes, federal and state investigators are frantically trying to trace the outbreaks to specific vaping products that, until recently, were virtually unregulated.

As of Aug. 22, 193 potential vaping-related illnesses in 22 states had been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. California is investigating 22 cases. Wisconsin, which first put out an alert in July, has at least 16 confirmed and 15 suspected cases. Illinois has reported 34 patients, one of whom has died. Indiana is investigating 24.

Lung doctors said they had seen warning signs for years that vaping could be hazardous, as they treated patients. Medically it seemed problematic, since it often involved inhaling chemicals not normally inhaled into the lungs. Despite that, assessing the safety of a new product storming the market fell between regulatory cracks, leaving doctors unsure where to register concerns before the outbreak. The Food and Drug Administration took years to regulate e-cigarettes once a court determined it had the authority to do so.

“You don’t know what you’re putting into your lungs when you vape,” said Harris, a critical care pulmonologist at Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City. “It’s purported to be safe, but how do you know if it’s safe? To me, it’s a very dangerous thing.”

Dr. Laura Crotty Alexander, a pulmonologist and researcher with the University of California-San Diego, said she saw her first case about two years ago. A young man had been vaping for months with the same device but developed acute lung injury when he switched flavors. She strongly suspected a link but did not report the illness anywhere.

“It wasn’t that I didn’t want to report it, it’s that there’s no pathway” to do so, Alexander said.

She said she’s concerned that many physicians haven’t been asking patients about e-cigarette use and that there’s no way to document a case like this in the medical coding system.

Off The Radar

When electronic cigarettes came to market about a decade ago, they fell into a regulatory no man’s land. They are not a food, not a drug and not a medical device, any of which would have put them immediately in the FDA’s purview. And, until a few years ago, they weren’t even lumped in with tobacco products.

As a result, billions of dollars of vaping products have been sold online, at big-box retailers and in corner stores without going through the FDA’s rigorous review process to assess their safety. Companies like Blu, NJoy and Juul, which is based in San Francisco, quickly established their brands of devices and cartridges, or pods. And thousands of related products are sold, sometimes on the black market over the internet or beyond.

“It makes it really tough because we don’t know what we’re looking for,” said Dr. Ruth Lynfield, the state epidemiologist for Minnesota, where several patients were admitted to the intensive care unit as a result of the illness. She added that if it turns out that the products in question were sold by unregistered retailers and manufacturers “on the street,” outbreak sleuths will have a harder time figuring out exactly what is in them.

With e-cigarettes, people can vape — or smoke — nicotine products, selecting flavorings like mint, mango, blueberry crème brûlée or cookies and milk. They can also inhale cannabis products. Many are hopeful that e-cigarettes might be useful smoking cessation tools, but some research has called that into question.

The mysterious pulmonary disease cases have been linked to vaping, but it’s unclear whether there is a common device or chemical. In some states, including California and Utah, all of the patients had vaped cannabis products. One or more substances could be involved, health officials have said. The products used by several victims are being tested to see what they contained.

Because e-cigarettes aren’t classified as drugs or medical devices, which have well-established FDA databases to track adverse events, doctors say there has been no clear way to report and track health problems related to vaping products.

And this has apparently been the case for years.

Multiple doctors described seeing earlier cases of severe lung problems linked to vaping that were not officially reported or included in the current CDC count.

Dr. John E. Parker of West Virginia University said he saw his first patient with pneumonia tied to vaping in 2015. Doctors there were intrigued enough to report on the case at the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians. Parker and his team didn’t contact a federal agency, and Parker said it was unclear whom to call.

Numerous other cases have been reported in medical journals and at professional conferences in the years since. The FDA’s voluntary system for reporting tobacco-related health problems included 96 seizures and only one lung ailment tied to e-cigarettes from April through June of this year. The system appears to be utilized most by concerned citizens, rather than manufacturers or health care professionals.

But several lung specialists said that due to the patchwork nature of regulatory oversight over the years, the true scope of the problem is yet to be identified.

“We do know that e-cigarettes do not emit a harmless aerosol,” said Brian King, a deputy director in the Office on Smoking and Health at the CDC in a call with media on Aug. 23 about the outbreak. “It is possible that some of these cases were already occurring but we were not picking them up.”

Regulatory Limits

The FDA has had limited authority to regulate e-cigarettes over the years.

In 2009, Congress passed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, empowering the FDA to oversee the safety and sale of tobacco products. But e-cigarettes, still new, were not top of mind.

Later that year, the FDA tried to block imports of e-cigarettes, saying the combination drug-device products were unapproved and therefore illegal for sale in the United States. Two vaping companies, Smoking Everywhere and NJoy, sued, and a federal judge ruled in 2010 that the FDA should regulate e-cigarettes as tobacco products.

It took the agency six years to finalize what’s become known as the “deeming rule,” in which it formally began regulating e-cigarettes and e-liquids.

By then, it was May 2016. The e-cigarette market had swelled to an estimated $4.1 billion, Wells Fargo Securities analyst Bonnie Herzog said at the time. Market researchers now project that the global industry could reach $48 billion by 2023.

Critics say the FDA took too long to act.

“I think the fact that FDA has been dillydallying [has made] figuring out what’s going on [with this outbreak] much harder,” said Stanton Glantz, a University of California-San Francisco professor in its Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education. “No question.”

The agency began by banning e-cigarette sales to minors and requiring all new vaping products to submit applications for authorization before they could come to market. Companies and retailers with thousands of products already on the market were granted two years to submit applications, and the FDA would get an additional year to evaluate the applications. Meanwhile, existing products could still be sold.

But when Dr. Scott Gottlieb arrived as the new FDA commissioner in 2017, the rule hadn’t been implemented and there was no formal guidance for companies to file applications, he said. As a result, he pushed the deadline back to 2022, drawing ire from public health advocates, who called foul over his previous ties to an e-cigarette retailer called Kure.

“I thought e-cigarettes at the time — and I still believe — that they represent an opportunity for currently addicted adult smokers to transition off of combustible tobacco,” he said in an interview, adding that other parts of the deeming rule went into effect as planned. “All I did was delay the application deadline.”

Gottlieb’s thinking changed the following year, when a national survey showed a sharp rise in teen vaping, which he called an “epidemic.” He announced that the agency would rethink the extended deadline and weigh whether to take flavors that appeal to kids off the market.

A judge ruled last month that e-cigarette makers would have only 10 more months to submit applications to the FDA. They’re now due in May 2020.

Asked about the lung injuries appearing now, Gottlieb, who left the FDA in April, said he suspected counterfeit pods are to blame, given the geographic clustering of cases and the fact that, overall, the FDA is inspecting registered e-cigarette makers and retailers to make sure they’re complying with existing regulations.

“I think the manufacturers are culpable if their products are being used, whether the liquids are counterfeit or real,” he said. “Ultimately, they’re responsible for keeping their products out of the hands of kids.”

Juul, the leading e-cigarette maker, agreed that children shouldn’t be able to vape its products, and said curtailing access should be done “through significant regulation” and “enforcement.”

“When people say ‘Why aren’t these being regulated?’ They actually are all being regulated,” Gottlieb said.

For example, companies are required to label their products as potentially addictive, sell only to adults and comply with manufacturing standards. The agency has conducted thousands of inspections of e-cigarette manufacturers and retailers and taken enforcement actions against companies selling e-cigarettes that look like juice boxes, and a company that was putting the ingredients found in erectile dysfunction drugs into its vape liquid.

Health departments investigating the outbreak told Kaiser Health News that e-cigarettes’ niche as a tobacco product instead of a drug has presented challenges. Most weren’t aware that adverse events could be reported to a database that tracks problems with tobacco products. And, because e-cigarettes never went through the FDA’s “gold standard” approval process for drugs, doctors can’t readily look up a detailed list of known side effects.

But like other arms of the FDA, the tobacco office has tools and a team to investigate a public health threat just as the teams for drugs and devices do, Gottlieb said. It may even be better equipped because of its funding.

“I don’t think FDA is operating in any way with hands tied behind its back because of the way that the statute is set up,” he said.

Teen vaping has exploded during this regulatory tussle. In 2011, 1.5% of high school students reported vaping. By 2018, it was 20.8%, according to a CDC report.

Unknown Components

Still, doctors and researchers are concerned about the ingredients in e-cigarettes, and how little the public knows about the risks of vaping.

In Juul’s terms and conditions, posted on its website, it says, “We encourage consumers to do their own research regarding vapor products and what is right for them.” Many ingredients in e-cigarette products, however, are protected as trade secrets.

Since at least 2013, the flavor industry has expressed concern about the use of flavoring chemicals in vaping products.

The vast majority of the chemicals have been tested only by ingesting them in small quantities, as they’re encountered in foods. For most of these chemicals, there have been no tests to determine whether it is safe to inhale them, as happens daily by millions when they use e-cigarettes.

“Many of the ingredients of vaping products, including flavoring substances, have not been tested for … the exposure one would get from using a vaping device,” said John Hallagan, a senior adviser to the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association. The group has sent cease-and-desist letters to e-cigarette companies in previous years for using the food safety certification of the flavor industry to imply that the chemicals are also safe in e-cigarettes.

Some flavor chemicals are thought to be harmful when inhaled in high doses. Research suggests that cinnamaldehyde, the main component of many cinnamon flavors, may impair lung function when inhaled. Sven-Eric Jordt, a professor at Kaiser Health News, says he presented evidence of its dangers at an FDA meeting in 2015 — and its relative abundance in many e-cigarette vaping liquids. In response, one major e-cigarette liquid seller, Tasty Vapor, voluntarily took its cinnamon-flavored liquid off the shelves.

In 2017, when Gottlieb delayed the FDA application deadline, the product was back. A company email to its customers put it this way:

“Two years ago, Tasty Vapor allowed itself to be intimidated by scaremongering tactics. … We lost a lot of sales as well as a good number of long time customers. We no long see reason to disappoint our customers hostage for these shady tactics.”

At the time of publication, Tasty Vapor’s owner did not reply to a request for comment.

Jordt said he is frustrated by the delays in the regulatory approval process.

“As a parent, I would say that the government has not acted on this,” he said. “You’re basically left to act alone with your addicted kid. It’s kind of terrifying that this was allowed to happen. The industry needs to be held to account.”

Kaiser Health News correspondents Cara Anthony, Markian Hawryluk and Lauren Weber and reporter Victoria Knight contributed to this report.

This story was produced by Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation.

This article originally appeared in The Los Angeles Sentinel.

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California, Districts Try to Recruit and Retain Black Teachers; Advocates Say More Should Be Done

SACRAMENTO OBSERVER — Many Black college students have not considered a teaching career because they have never had a Black teacher, said Preston Jackson, who teaches physical education at California Middle School in Sacramento. Those who consider a teaching career are often deterred by the cost of teacher preparation, taking required tests and unpaid student teaching.

Published

6 days ago

December 17, 2024

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A Series by EdSource | The Sacramento Observer

Recruiting and retaining Black teachers has taken on new urgency in recent years as California lawmakers try to ease the state’s teacher shortage. The state and individual school districts have launched initiatives to recruit teachers of color, but educators and advocates say more needs to be done.

Hiring a diverse group of teachers helps all students, but the impact is particularly significant for students of color, who then score higher on tests and are more likely to graduate from college, according to the Learning Policy Institute. A recently released report also found that Black boys are less likely to be identified for special education when they have a Black teacher.

In the last five years, state lawmakers have made earning a credential easier and more affordable and have offered incentives for school staff to become teachers — all moves meant to ease the teacher shortage and help to diversify the educator workforce.

Despite efforts by the state and school districts, the number of Black teachers doesn’t seem to be increasing. Black teachers say that to keep them in the classroom, teacher preparation must be more affordable, pay and benefits increased, and more done to ensure they are treated with respect, supported and given opportunities to lead.

“Black educators specifically said that they felt like they were being pushed out of the state of California,” said Jalisa Evans, chief executive director of the Black Educator Advocates Network of a recent survey of Black teachers. “When we look at the future of Black educators for the state, it can go either way, because what Black educators are feeling right now is that they’re not welcome.”

Task force offers recommendations

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond called diversifying the teacher workforce a priority and established the California Department of Education Educator Diversity Advisory Group in 2021.

The advisory group has made several recommendations, including beginning a public relations campaign and offering sustained funding to recruit and retain teachers of color, and providing guidance and accountability to school districts on the matter. The group also wants universities, community groups and school districts to enter into partnerships to build pathways for teachers of color.

Since then, California has created a set of public service announcements and a video to help recruit teachers and has invested $10 million to help people of color to become school administrators, said Travis Bristol, chairman of the advisory group and an associate professor of education at UC Berkeley. Staff from county offices of education also have been meeting to share ideas on how they can support districts’ efforts to recruit and retain teachers of color, he said.

The state also has invested more than $350 million over the past six years to fund teacher residency programs, and recently passed legislation to ensure residents are paid a minimum salary. Residents work alongside an experienced teacher-mentor for a year of clinical training while completing coursework in a university preparation program — a time commitment that often precludes them from taking a job.

Legislators have also proposed a bill that would require that student teachers be paid. Completing the 600 hours of unpaid student teaching required by the state, while paying for tuition, books, supplies and living expenses, is a challenge for many Black teacher candidates.

Black teacher candidates typically take on much more student debt than their white counterparts, in part, because of the large racial wealth gap in the United States. A 2019 study by the Economic Policy Institute showed that the median white family had $184,000 in family wealth (property and cash), while the median Latino family had $38,000 and the median Black family had $23,000.

Lack of data makes it difficult to know what is working

It’s difficult to know if state efforts are working. California hasn’t released any data on teacher demographics since the 2018-19 school year, although the data is submitted annually by school districts. The California Department of Education (CDE) did not provide updated data or interviews requested by EdSource for this story.

The most recent data from CDE shows the number of Black teachers in California declined from 4.2% in 2009 to 3.9% during the 2018-19 school year. The National Center for Education Statistics data from the 2020-21 show that Black teachers made up 3.8% of the state educator workforce.

Having current data is a critical first step to understanding the problem and addressing it, said Mayra Lara, director of Southern California partnerships and engagement at The Education Trust-West, an education research and advocacy organization.

“Let’s be clear: The California Department of Education needs to annually publish educator demographic and experience data,” Lara said. “It has failed to do so for the past four years. … Without this data, families, communities and decision-makers really are in the dark when it comes to the diversity of the educator workforce.”

LA Unified losing Black teachers despite efforts

While most state programs focus on recruiting and retaining all teachers of color, some California school districts have initiatives focused solely on recruiting Black teachers.

The state’s largest school district, Los Angeles Unified, passed the Black Student Excellence through Educator Diversity, Preparation and Retention resolution two years ago. It required district staff to develop a strategic plan to ensure schools have Black teachers, administrators and mental health workers, and to advocate for programs that offer pathways for Black people to become teachers.

When the resolution was passed, in February 2022, Los Angeles Unified had 1,889 Black teachers — 9% of its teacher workforce. The following school year, that number declined to 1,823 or 7.9% of district teachers. The number of Black teachers in the district has gone down each year since 2016. The district did not provide data for the current school year.

Robert Whitman, director of the Educational Transformation Office at LA Unified, attributed the decrease, in part, to the difficulty attracting teachers to the district, primarily because of the area’s high cost of living.

“Those who are coming out of colleges now, in some cases, we find that they can make more money doing other things,” Whitman said. “And so, they may not necessarily see education as the most viable option.”

The underrepresentation of people of color prompted the district to create its own in-house credentialing program, approved by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, Whitman said. The program allows classified staff, such as substitute teachers, paraprofessionals, administrative assistants and bus drivers, to become credentialed teachers while earning a salary and benefits at their original jobs.

Grow-your-own programs such as this, and the state’s Classified School Employee Credentialing program, and a soon-to-be launched apprenticeship program, are meant to diversify the educator workforce because school staff recruited from the community more closely match the demographics of the student body than traditionally trained and recruited teachers, according to research.

Los Angeles Unified has other initiatives to increase the number of Black educators in the district, Whitman said, including working with universities and colleges to bring Black teachers, counselors and psychiatric social workers to their campuses. The district also has programs that help school workers earn a credential for free, and channels employees completing a bachelor’s degree toward the district’s teacher preparation program where they can begin teaching while earning their credential.

All new teachers at Los Angeles Unified are supported by mentors and affinity groups, which have been well received by Black teachers, who credit them with inspiring and helping them to see themselves as leaders in the district, Whitman said.

Oakland has more Black teachers than students

Recruiting and retaining Black teachers is an important part of the Oakland Unified three-year strategic plan, said Sarah Glasband, director of recruitment and retention for the district. To achieve its goals, the district has launched several partnerships that make an apprenticeship program, and a residency program that includes a housing subsidy, possible. A partnership with the Black Teacher Project, a nonprofit advocacy organization, offers affinity groups, workshops and seminars to support the district’s Black teachers.

The district also has a Classified School Employee Program funded by the state and a new high school program to train future teachers. District pathway programs have an average attrition rate of less than 10%, Glasband said.

This year, 21.3% of the district’s K-12 teachers are Black, compared with 20.3% of their student population, according to district data. Oakland Unified had a retention rate of about 85% for Black teachers between 2019 and 2023.

Better pay, a path to leadership will help teachers stay

Black teachers interviewed by EdSource and researchers say that to keep them in the classroom, more needs to be done to make teacher preparation affordable, improve pay and benefits, and ensure they are treated with respect, supported and given opportunities to lead.

The Black Educator Advocates Network came up with five recommendations after surveying 128 former and current Black teachers in California about what it would take to keep them in the classroom:

Hire more Black educators and staff
Build an anti-racist, culturally responsive and inclusive school environment
Create safe spaces for Black educators and students to come together
Provide and require culturally responsive training for all staff
Recognize, provide leadership opportunities and include Black educators in decision making

Teachers interviewed by EdSource said paying teachers more also would make it easier for them to stay.

“I don’t want to say that it’s the pay that’s going to get more Black teachers,” Brooke Sims, a Stockton teacher, told EdSource. “But you get better pay, you get better health care.”

The average teacher salary in the state is $88,508, with the average starting pay at $51,600, according to the 2023 National Education Association report, “State of Educator Pay in America.” California’s minimum living wage was $54,070 last year, according to the report.

State efforts, such as an initiative that pays teachers $5,000 annually for five years after they earn National Board Certification, will help with pay parity across school districts, Bristol said. Teachers prove through assessments and a portfolio that they meet the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. To be eligible for the grant, teachers must work at least half of their time in a high-needs school. Teachers who qualify are also given $2,500 to cover the cost of certification.

This incentive will help teachers continue their education and improve their practice, said Los Angeles teacher Petrina Miller. “It’s awesome,” she said.

Teacher candidates must be actively recruited

Many Black college students have not considered a teaching career because they have never had a Black teacher, said Preston Jackson, who teaches physical education at California Middle School in Sacramento. Those who consider a teaching career are often deterred by the cost of teacher preparation, taking required tests and unpaid student teaching.

“In order to increase the number of Black teachers in schools, it has to become deliberate,” Jackson said. “You have to actively recruit and actively seek them out to bring them into the profession.”

Since starting in 2005, Jackson has been one of only a handful of Black teachers at his school.

“And for almost every single one of my kids, I’m the first Black teacher they’ve ever had,” said Jackson. “… And for some of them, I’m the first one they’ve ever seen.”

Mentors are needed to help retain new teachers

Mentor teachers are the key ingredient to helping new Black educators transition successfully into teaching, according to teachers interviewed by EdSource. Alicia Simba says she could have taken a job for $25,000 more annually in a Bay Area district with few Black teachers or students but opted to take a lower salary to work in Oakland Unified.

But like many young teachers, Simba knew she wanted mentors to help her navigate her first years in the classroom. She works alongside Black teachers in Oakland Unified who have more than 20 years of teaching experience. One of her mentor teachers shared her experience of teaching on the day that Martin Luther King Jr. was shot. Other teachers told her about teaching in the 1980s during the crack cocaine epidemic.

“It really helps dispel some of the sort of narratives that I hear, which is that being a teacher is completely unsustainable,” Simba said. “Like, there’s no way that anyone could ever be a teacher long term, which are things that, you know, I’ve heard my friends say, and I’ve thought it myself.”

The most obvious way to retain Black teachers would be to make sure they are treated the same as non-Black teachers, said Brenda Walker, a Black teacher and president of the Associated Chino Teachers.

“If you are a district administrator, site administrator, site or colleague, parent or student, my bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and my special education credential are just as valuable and carry as much weight, and are as respected as any other educator,” she said.

“However, it’s just as critical for all those groups to acknowledge and respect the unique cultural experience I bring to the table and acknowledge and respect that I’m a proud product of my ancestral history.”

Black teachers: how to recruit THEM and make them stay

This is the first part of a special series by EdSource on the recruitment and retention of Black teachers in California. The recruitment and hiring of Black educators has lagged, even as a teacher shortage has given the task new urgency.

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Christmas Travel: When is the Best Time to Take Your Trip

BIRMINGHAM TIMES — When planning for your trip, the thoughts of hitting the road or boarding a flight can be stressful. You envision not “sugar plums dancing in your head”, but crowded airports, long lines and very heavy traffic because Christmas travel can be notoriously difficult. It’s a time of high demand and volume with millions traveling during the winter weather, which is often synonymous with snowstorms, icy roads and delayed flights.

Published

6 days ago

December 16, 2024

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By Samuetta Drew | Birmingham Times

Christmas is one of the busiest travel seasons of the year. It’s a time when people schedule trips to visit family and friends, take that winter wonderland vacation or simply enjoy a festive getaway.

When planning for your trip, the thoughts of hitting the road or boarding a flight can be stressful. You envision not “sugar plums dancing in your head”, but crowded airports, long lines and very heavy traffic because Christmas travel can be notoriously difficult. It’s a time of high demand and volume with millions traveling during the winter weather, which is often synonymous with snowstorms, icy roads and delayed flights.

This safety article is meant to help you dodge the busiest crowds and make your trip as stress-free as possible, but also not to lose focus on practicing good safety measures. It will identify the best travel dates and times.

Most travelers wait until closer to Christmas, so plan your trips this year earlier in the week – specifically Monday, December 16, through Thursday, December 19. This is ideal for several reasons:

Lower Crowds – airports and highways are less congested.
Cheaper Flights – airlines often offer lower fares earlier in the week before the rush begins.
Less Stress – with fewer people on the road and shorter lines at the airports, your travel experience will be much smoother.

The least busy days with fewer travelers during Christmas are:

December 24 (Christmas Eve)
December 25 (Christmas Day)

While not as bad as the days immediately before, Christmas Eve still poses some challenges, such as:

Last Minute Travelers – many people wait until the last minute to travel.
Shortened Hours – some businesses and transportation services close early.
Higher Stress Levels – the pressure to arrive on time can add a little additional stress.

Avoid peak times at the airport. Opt for the late or early morning flights. The red-eye flights and early morning flights are generally less popular but offer significant advantages such as:

Fewer Delays – airports are generally less busy during these times, reducing the risk of delays.
Faster Security Checks – shorter lines at TSA means you will get through the airport faster, especially if it’s a large airport.
Affordable Options – airlines sometimes offer discounts on less desirable flight times.

Hopefully this article will help you Keep an Eye on Safety when traveling over the 2024 Christmas season by decreasing your holiday chaos, which could result in your lack of focus while traveling.

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PRESS ROOM: Trace and ARDN Join Forces to Promote the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

NNPA NEWSWIRE — The African Renaissance and Diaspora Network (ARDN), a New York-based nonprofit, is committed to promoting the African Renaissance by strengthening ties between Africa and its diaspora through development and peace-building initiatives. Trace, an international multimedia platform focused on Afro-urban entertainment and youth success, is globally recognized for its contributions to Afrocentric cultures and its support of creators and fans from the African diaspora.

Published

6 days ago

December 16, 2024

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Trace, a global multimedia platform dedicated to Afro-urban entertainment and youth success, and the African Renaissance and Diaspora Network (ARDN) have entered into a partnership to guide their joint actions over the next two years. The objectives and details of this partnership will be revealed during a digital press conference on Tuesday, December 17, at 3 PM (GMT+1). Main speakers will be Olivier Laouchez, CEO & Co-Founder of Trace, Djibril Diallo CEO & President of ARDN as well as Richard Gant, ARDN’s Art, Culture and Sports Chair and renown actor, screenwriter and director.

Mandatory registration here.

Two Organizations, One Shared Vision

The African Renaissance and Diaspora Network (ARDN), a New York-based nonprofit, is committed to promoting the African Renaissance by strengthening ties between Africa and its diaspora through development and peace-building initiatives.

Trace, an international multimedia platform focused on Afro-urban entertainment and youth success, is globally recognized for its contributions to Afrocentric cultures and its support of creators and fans from the African diaspora.

A Partnership for Global Impact

ARDN and Trace are collaborating to:

Advocate for equality and success,
Support the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030,
Foster peace and security, and
Provide aid to vulnerable communities”Our partnership with Trace represents a significant milestone in our mission to rally support for Africa and its diaspora. Together, we will amplify our impact and raise global awareness of African cultural richness and challenges,” said Djibril Diallo, President of ARDN.

“We are proud to collaborate with ARDN to contribute to the SDGs, positively impact people and societies, and elevate African cultures,” added Olivier Laouchez, co-founder and Executive Chairman of Trace.

The ARDN Red Card Campaign: First Joint Initiative

A central focus of this partnership is the ARDN Red Card Campaign, which tackles gender-based violence and discrimination. Positioned within the “Pathway to Solutions” framework, the campaign features the Red Card Pledge—a global movement aligned with SDG #5 to advance gender equality and empower women and girls worldwide, serving as a critical step toward accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The campaign encourages individuals and organizations to symbolically raise a red card, taking a stand against discrimination and promoting actions to eliminate inequality. It underscores the indispensable role of women as agents of transformative societal change. With the support of Trace and its innovative Trace+ streaming platform, the initiative will scale globally, reaching broader audiences and galvanizing international efforts for change.

This launch marks the beginning of a worldwide collaboration aimed at mobilizing collective action through symbolic gestures like the red card. It is the inaugural joint initiative between ARDN and Trace.

Adding a dynamic musical element, Trace will contribute to the Afrobeat remix of the campaign’s theme song, AOFB (“Africa Open for Business”), produced by Mackadamion. Featuring a prominent Afrobeat artist, the remix will premiere on Trace networks, celebrating Africa’s emergence as a hub of innovation and opportunity through captivating rhythms and uplifting lyrics.

A Committed Partnership for Sustainable Change

The Trace X ARDN partnership reflects their shared commitment to inclusion, cultural pride, and sustainable development. Together, they aim to contribute to societal improvements benefiting the African diaspora and beyond.

For more information about this partnership and upcoming initiatives, please contact:

Trace Contact: press@trace.plus

ARDN Contact: angelauzoeme@gmail.com

About Trace

Trace is a leading multimedia and digital platform dedicated to Afro-urban music and cultures, as well as the success of youth and artists. Trace regularly engages 350 million fans in 190 countries through entertainment and empowerment platforms. Learn more at http://www.trace.plus | Download the free Trace+ app on the App Store and Google Play.

About ARDN

The African Renaissance and Diaspora Network (ARDN), founded in 1990 and headquartered in New York, is a non-profit organization with consultative status at the United Nations and representation in over 80 countries. ARDN works closely with the United Nations to champion sustainable development across Africa and its diaspora. Its flagship initiatives, such as the Red Card Campaign, address critical issues like discrimination and gender-based violence while celebrating Africa’s potential and empowering women’s leadership. Through strategic partnerships, ARDN is dedicated to advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals and fostering meaningful global impact. Learn more at: http://www.ardn.ngo