ACSH was founded in 1978 by a group of scientists who had become concerned that many important public policies related to health and the environment did not have a sound scientific basis. These scientists created the organization to add reason and balance to debates about public health issues and bring common sense views to the public. ACSH representatives appear regularly on television and radio, in public debates and in other forums. In addition, ACSH hosts media seminars and press conferences on a variety of public health issues. ACSH also provides an in-house internship program for students in health science fields and participates in legislative and regulatory hearings.
All contributions are tax deductible as provided by law.
ACSH's is a unique voice, backed by mainstream science, defending the achievements and benefits of responsible technology within America's free-enterprise system. ACSH's top priority is to help Americans distinguish between real and hypothetical health risks. ACSH aims to separate the leading causes of disease and death from the leading causes of unnecessary anxiety and tries to ensure that both individual health decisions and public policies are based on sound scientific evidence. ACSH has taken an aggressive role in warning the public about cigarette smoking as the nation's top preventable killer. ACSH has also targeted the dangers of alcohol abuse, neglect of preventive care and promiscuous sexual behavior as major health threats.