Working Toward a Healthier Future
AT-A-GLANCE
( 1996 document )
For more information, please contact the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for-Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, ail Stop K-50, 4770 Buford Highway, Atlanta, GA 30341-3724,(770) ###-5705
Internet: http:Hwwiv.cdc.govlnccdpliploshltobacco.htm
1-800-CDC- 1311
"One of the most important things we can do to strengthen our families,
cherish our
children, and give every single one of our young people the childhood that
he or she
deserves is to protect our children from what is rapidly becoming the single
greatest threat
to their health - cigarette smoking and tobacco addiction."
President Clinton, State of the Union Address, 1996
Source: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Tobacco Use in the United States
Studies have also demonstrated that women who use tobacco during pregnancy
are more likely to have adverse birth outcomes, including low birth weight
babies. Low birth weight is a leading cause of death among infants.
Studies also indicate that nonsmokers are adversely affected by environmental
tobacco smoke. Researchers have identified more than 4,000 chemical compounds in
tobacco smoke; of these, at least 43 cause ancer in humans and animals. Each
year, because of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, an estimated 3,000
nonsmoking Americans die of lung cancer, and 300,000 children suffer from lower
respiratory tract infections. Every day 3,000 young people become regular smokers.
Every day 6,000 teens under age 18 smoke their first cigarette.
The majority of tobacco control activities focus on six key
components:
Key Elements of CDC's Tobacco Control Program
Efforts to reduce tobacco use in the United States have undergone a shift
from a primary focus on smoking cessation interventions for individual smokers
to broader population-based interventions that prevent tobacco use, that
encourage and motivate people to quit smoking
Economic incentives
Product regulation
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stimulates, supports,
and coordinates tobacco control activities that reflect these key components.
Central to its role is providing technical assistance to other federal agencies,
state health departments, national organizations, and public health profession,
als. The mission of CDC's tobacco control program is to lead and coordinate
strategic activities that prevent tobacco use and to reduce exposure to
environmental tobacco smoke.
These activities are designed to reach multiple populations, particularly
high-risk groups, such as youth, minorities, blue-collar workers, individuals
with low socioeconomic status, and women.
Since the release of the first Surgeon General's Report in 1964, the
scientific knowledge about the health consequences of tobacco use has greatly
increased. It is now well documented that smoking cigarettes causes heart
disease, lung and esophageal cancer, and chronic lung disease. Cigarette smoking
contributes to cancer of the bladder, pancreas, and kidney. Consequences of
using smokeless tobacco include cancer of the gum. mouth, pharynx, larynx, and
esophagus.
cost the nation $50 billion in
direct health care costs.
Particularly alarming is the fact that more than 3 million young people
under age 18 smoke half a billion cigarettes each year and that more than
one-half of them consider themselves dependent upon cigarettes. The decision to
use tobacco is nearly always made in the teen years, and about one-half of young
people usually continue to use tobacco products as adults.
... and that reinforces the evidence of health risks from exposure to
environmental tobacco smoke. Public health efforts to reduce tobacco use in the
United States have evolved as federal, state, and local government agencies and
numerous health organizations have joined together to design and develop
prevention activities.
one of every five deaths in the
United States and is the single most
preventable cause of death and
disease in our nation.
Tobacco Control Framework
Expanding the Science
Base. CDC strengthens and expands the
scientific foundation of tobacco control by examining trends, patterns, health
effects, and the economic costs associated with tobacco use. For example:
* The Surgeon General's reports document comprehensive, scientific
information on cigarette smoking and smokeless tobacco use. Recent reports have
addressed tobacco use among adolescents and among special populations.
* CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports (MMWR) serve as a major outlet
for surveillance of and research on tobacco use on such topics as state laws on
tobacco use and trends in smoking initiation among youth.
* CDC's Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Morbidity, and Economic Cost (SAMMEC)
software, a computer program designed to estimate deaths, disease impact, and
costs related to smoking, provides essential information for state-based tobacco
control programs as well as Surgeon
General's reports, MMWR articles, and responses to public inquiries.
Building Capacity to Conduct Programs. CDC strengthens
national tobacco control efforts through its strategic partnerships with all
states, U.S. territories, and national organizations. For example:
Through its IMPACT (Initiatives to Mobilize for the Prevention and Control of
Tobacco Use) program, CDC supports 32 states and the District of Columbia to
implement state tobacco control programs. CDC provides extensive technical
assistance and training through site visits, conferences, workshops, and
teleconferences on planning, developing, implementing, and evaluating tobacco
control programs.
Through IMPACT, CDC also supports and actively collaborates with a variety of
national organizations to ensure participation of diverse community groups,
coalitions, and community leaders.
Communicating Information to the Public. CDC serves as a
primary resource for tobacco and health information. In this role, it develops
and distributes important information about tobacco and health to the public and
special constituents nationwide. For example:
CDC responds to a diverse audience, with as many as 60,000 inquiries each
year, using many different channels, including brochures, fact sheets, articles,
and video products, and provides a toll-free information dissemination service.
In addition, CDC provides the public with ready access to tobacco use prevention
information through a World Wide Web site on the Internet.
CDC makes high-quality tobacco control and prevention advertising materials
from across the country available to all states, localities, and organizations
through its Media Campaign Resource Center. Along with providing counter
advertising materials, the Resource Center provides information on how to work
with various media outlets, why advertising is an important aspect of tobacco
control, and what logistics are involved with media placement. Tobacco control
and prevention advertising materials such as those provded through the Media
Campaign Resource Center counter the $6 billion a year spent to advertise and
promote tobacco use.
CDC develops media campaigns and associated collateral materials, such as the
"Smoke free Kids and Soccer," "Stop the Sale, Prevent the Addiction," and
"Performance Edge" campaigns, to communicate tobacco and health information to
the public and special constituents.
Facilitating Action with Partners. CDC collaborates with
professional, voluntary, academic, medical, and international organizations;
with other federal agencies; and with state health departments to build a strong
tobacco use prevention network. For example:
Federal Activities-CDC supports the Interagency Committee on Smoking and
Health-a national, congressionally mandated committee that advises the
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) on the coordination,
communication, and exchange of information among Federal agencies about the
health risks of tobacco use.
External Partnerships-CDC continues to work toward expanding and enhancing
external partnerships by developing relations with organizations to support
comprehensive strategic communications and social marketing activities.
University Collaborations-CDC supports university-based research activities
through its Prevention Centers Program. Among other activities, this program
focuses on identifying differences in smoking behavior and smoking patterns
among subgroups of youth, evaluating the effects of tobacco advertising and
promotion, and analyzing the indirect costs associated with tobacco. In
addition, CDC cosponsors an annual Tobacco Use Prevention Summer Institute to
provide participants with an understanding of specific tobacco use prevention
issues.
Academic Associations-CDC collaborates with the Minority Health Professions
Foundation, the Association of Schools of Public Health, the Association of
Teachers of Preventive Medicine, ad the Historically Black Colleges and
Universities to assist in planning and developing tobacco initiatives, provide
research data on various topics, and expand their capacity to participate in
health promotion and disease prevention programs.
International Activities-Through an agreement with the World Health
Organization designating CDC as a Collaborating Center for Smoking and Health,
CDC prepares and implements international and regional studies and activities,
provides health education regarding smoking cessation programs and for programs
to prevent tobacco related illnesses, and conducts epidemiologic research. In
addition, CDC works with other international organizations and individual
countries to build capacity for tobacco control initiatives and to establish
partnerships on tobacco control issues.
Key Partners
* Advocacy Institute National Association of African
Americans
* American Academy of Otolaryngology for Positive Imagery*
* American Academy of Pediatrics National Association of County and
* American Cancer Society City Health Officials
* American Dental Association National Center for Tobacco-Free Kids
* American Heart Association National Coalition of Hispanic Health and
* American Lung Association Human Services Organizations*
American Medical Association National Medical Association*
American Medical Women's Association* National Organization of Women*
Americans for Non-Smokers' Rights Northwest Portland Area Indian Health
Board*
American Public Health Association Pan American Health Organization
Asia Health Services* Parent Teacher Association
Association of Schools of Public Health Prevention Centers
Association of State and Territorial Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Health Officials Student Coalition Against Tobacco*
Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine Stop Teenage Addiction to
Tobacco
Congress of National Black Churches: The HMO Group
Coalition on Smoking OR Health Women and Girls Against Tobacco
Historically Black Colleges and Universities World Health Organization
Inter-religious Coalition on Smoking OR Health *Funded by CDC through the
IMPACT program to build
Minority Health Professions Foundation infrastructure and capacity regarding
tobacco control and prevention.