…Surgeon General Releases First Report Focused on Smoking Cessation in 30 Years
…Outlines the latest science to help people quit smoking cigarettes
SUN, JAN 26 2020-theG&BJournal– Three decades after the first Surgeon General’s report on smoking cessation, Thursday, the US Surgeon General announced the release of a new report that reviews and updates evidence on the importance of quitting smoking. The report finds that more than two-thirds of U.S. adult cigarette smokers report interest in quitting cigarette smoking; and the majority of adult cigarette smokers in the United States have tried to quit during the past year.
In addition to discussing the immediate and long-term health and economic benefits of smoking cessation at the individual and societal levels, the report presents updated findings on nicotine addiction and genetic factors that may impact smoking behaviours. The report also discusses the wide variety of clinical and population-based interventions that have been scientifically shown to effectively increase smoking cessation.
“We know more about the science of quitting than ever before. As a nation, we can and must do more to ensure that evidence-based cessation treatments are reaching the people that need them,” said Surgeon General Vice Adm. Jerome M. Adams. “Today, I’m calling on healthcare professionals, health systems, employers, insurers, public health professionals, and policy makers to take action to put an end to the staggering—and completely preventable—human and financial tolls that smoking takes on our country.”
“The steady decline in the number of Americans who smoke cigarettes is one of the great public health victories of recent decades, and this success has continued under President Trump,” said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. “Americans who quit cigarettes can add as much as a decade to their life expectancy. Unfortunately, millions of Americans still smoke cigarettes. But the good news is that, as the Surgeon General’s report shows, we know more than ever before about effective ways to help Americans quit. Working together, we can make tobacco-related disease and death a thing of the past.”
Though cigarette smoking among American adults is at an all-time low (14%), it remains the leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in the United States. Approximately 34 million American adults currently smoke cigarettes.
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), America’s oldest anti-tobacco organization, dedicated to a world with ZERO tobacco deaths, applauded the Surgeon General ‘’for once again leading the fight against tobacco addiction, disease and death.’’
‘’In particular, Dr. Jerome Adams and his staff should be commended for making it clear that access to treatment greatly improves success in quitting and that providing access is a critical component in the fight to end the tobacco epidemic,’’ ASH said in a statement.
According to ASH, for too long, cessation has been the ugly step child of the tobacco control movement and the nation’s public health priorities. There are several reasons for this: confidence that the epidemic can be ended by preventing youth uptake, a misunderstanding that cessation treatment is costly, and a thinly-veiled belief that adult smokers brought it upon themselves.
‘’We have made great strides in reducing youth tobacco use (although the vaping crisis threatens to undermine that success). But victory over big tobacco requires fighting on all fronts, as outlined in the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). We cannot expect to win without large numbers of adult smokers quitting, and many can’t quit without therapy.’’
‘’While the benefit of cessation for smokers is obvious, society as a whole profits from smokers becoming non-smokers. Smoking costs the country over $300 billion annually, and much of that cost is borne by governments, meaning taxpayers. As Dr. Adams shared, every American pays roughly $1,000 every year to cover the national cost of smoking.
”It is imperative to stop seeing smokers as the perpetrators of the tobacco epidemic. As the Report notes, nearly all started in adolescence, and became hooked on a product that was engineered to be as addictive as possible. Children cannot sign contracts, vote, or rent a car; legal authority comes at the age of 18 for a reason. Certainly, a middle schooler cannot consent to become a nicotine addict. The blame for the tobacco epidemic rests squarely on the tobacco industry, but governments bear some responsibility for allowing a product that is addictive and kills when used as intended to be sold in nearly every corner store.’’
The human right to health – which is well recognized in international law – says that every human has the right to the highest attainable standard of health. In a rich society like the U.S., access to smoking cessation treatment is certainly attainable.
”We also have a duty under human rights to seek equity in human development, especially for vulnerable populations. Racial minorities and the LGBT community have been particularly targeted by tobacco industry marketing, and consequently suffer disproportionately from the tobacco epidemic, ASH said.
Major Conclusions of the report
This report expands on the findings from the 1990 report on the same topic, as well as past Surgeon General’s reports on tobacco, reaching the following major conclusions:
-Smoking cessation benefits persons at any age.
-Smoking cessation reduces the risk of premature death and can add as much as a decade to life expectancy.
-Smoking places a substantial financial burden on smokers, healthcare systems, and society. Smoking cessation reduces this burden.
-More than 3 out of 5 U.S. adults who have ever smoked cigarettes have quit; however, less than one-third use FDA-approved cessation medications or behavioral counseling.
-Disparities in key indicators of smoking cessation exist among subgroups within the U.S. population — including quit attempts, receiving advice to quit from a health professional, and using cessation therapies.
-Smoking cessation reduces the risk of many negative health effects, including reproductive health outcomes, cardiovascular diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (or COPD), and numerous cancers.
-Cessation medications approved by the FDA and behavioral counseling increase the likelihood of successfully quitting smoking, particularly when used in combination.
-Insurance coverage for smoking cessation treatment that is comprehensive, barrier-free, and widely promoted increases the use of these treatment services, leads to higher rates of successful quitting, and is cost-effective.
-E-cigarettes, a continually changing and diverse group of products, are used in a variety of ways. Therefore, it is difficult to make generalizations about efficacy for cessation based on clinical trials involving a particular e-cigarette. There is presently inadequate evidence to conclude that e-cigarettes, in general, increase smoking cessation.
-Smoking cessation can be increased by raising the price of cigarettes, adopting comprehensive smoke-free policies, implementing mass media campaigns, requiring pictorial health warnings, and maintaining comprehensive statewide tobacco control programs.
This Surgeon General’s report on smoking cessation, the 34th report on smoking and health since 1964, was compiled using a longstanding, peer-reviewed, and comprehensive process to safeguard the scientific rigor and practical relevance of Surgeon General’s reports on tobacco. The evidence reviewed and summarized in this report can serve as a catalyst for efforts to further reduce the health and economic burden of tobacco product use in the United States.
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