Nebraska Legislature Must Address Tobacco Crisis
Action Needed to Reduce the Burden of Cancer on Nebraskans
WASHINGTON, D.C. – December 10, 2014 – The American Journal of Preventive Medicine published two studies today from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office on Smoking and Health showing health care costs attributable to cigarette smoking are higher than previously reported (nearly $170 billion per year), as well as results on the cost-effectiveness of the first phase of the “Tips from Former Smokers” media campaign.
A statement from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network President Chris Hansen on the two CDC studies follows:
“We now have evidence that smoking costs our country even more in health care costs than previously thought, which only adds urgency to the critical need to reduce the burden of tobacco use on our nation’s health and economy. While adult smoking rates have slowly declined in recent years to just under 18 percent, an American Cancer Society study released this week confirmed that cigarettes continue to cause about three in ten cancer deaths in the U.S. These deaths are preventable, and reducing the scourge of tobacco must be a top public health priority at every level of government.
“We now know that the CDC’s ‘Tips from Former Smokers’ campaign was money well spent and a bargain compared to other public health interventions. Funded primarily by the Prevention and Public Health Fund established under the Affordable Care Act, this hard-hitting campaign showcases real-life stories of the physical and emotional toll caused by tobacco-related disease and death. This shining example of how to focus nationwide tobacco prevention and cessation efforts was responsible for nearly 1.6 million smokers attempting to quit and six million non-smokers talking to a loved one about the dangers of smoking in its first phase alone.
“Congress must protect this wisely-spent funding for a campaign that is saving millions of lives from tobacco use, the most preventable cause of death in our country. The CDC’s campaign builds on a proven multi-pronged approach to combating tobacco use that includes federal regulation of tobacco products, increased tobacco taxes, smoke-free public spaces and workplaces and sustained investment in prevention and cessation.”
ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Lauren Walens or Steven Weiss
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
Phone: (202) 661-5763 or (202) 661-5711
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
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