CDC's Tobacco Use
Prevention Program:
Working Toward a Healthier Future
AT-A-GLANCE
1996
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) 488-5705
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 birthweight babies. Low birthweight 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 esophageat 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.
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
Generat'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. teff itoties, 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 counteradvertising 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 pvided 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 "Smokefree 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 organizaions 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 intemational and regional studies and activities, provides health education regarding smoking cessation
programs and for programs to prevent tobaccorelated 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.