Today is an important day in the world of global health and tobacco control the World Health Organization's World No Tobacco Day. It's a day to highlight the devastating toll tobacco products continue to have on people's health across the world, and a day to advocate for policies that we know help people quit smoking and keep kids from ever starting the deadly habit.
On Monday night, the people of the small town of Ketchum, Idaho (population 2,694), celebrated a very big public health victory.
I recently came across a fascinating new study that shows the power of television advertising in encouraging people to quit smoking. Published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, the study results suggest that smokers who are exposed to graphic and/or emotional TV ads are more likely to attempt to quit smoking than smokers who don't see the ads.
To quote John Seffrin, chief executive of the American Cancer Society and ACS CAN, today will go down as one of the most important days in the history of the fight against cancer in this country.
I thought Dan's knowledge of advanced directives was pertinent to the broader discussion of palliative care because ultimately, and unfortunately, some cancer patients do not get well. So, I invited him to contribute to this blog. I hope you find his perspective useful.
With all of the precincts reporting in, there are only 40,000 votes separating the yes votes from the no votes. However, estimates show more than 1 million mail-in and provisional ballots were left uncounted on election night. Therefore, ACS CAN and the campaign coalition are not conceding the election outcome, and we and our public health partners are pledging to fight for the health of Californians until every vote is counted.
I am pleased to share with you that U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) introduced a bill last week that would eliminate disparities in the federal tax rates for various tobacco products, a proposal that will increase federal revenues and save lives.
When you think of a friend or loved one who is battling cancer, you probably imagine their chemotherapy being administered intravenously at a local hospital. However, modern advances in technology and pharmaceuticals have produced chemotherapy drugs that can be taken orally, in pill form. To date, the FDA has approved more than 40 oral anti-cancer medications for the treatment of at least 54 different types of cancer.
With almost 6 million people dying annually from smoking-related diseases, you can see how the tobacco industry has been able to earn incredible profits from addicting people to their products using manipulating, misleading practices. In fact, in 2010, the six leading tobacco companies in the world made a collective profit of $35.1 billion, the equivalent of the profits of Coca Cola, McDonalds and Microsoft combined.
Sometimes we understand things intellectually but not always emotionally. Sometimes reality needs to touch us in a more visceral way to be effective. The CDC's new ad campaign, Tips from Former Smokers, features real-life stories of people who have suffered from the harmful effects of smoking. It helps us to understand more fully the real impacts of smoking.