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1992.03.12 :  Report -- Smoking and Health

Contact:  Tim Hensley (202) 245-7500 after March 13 (404) 488-
5705
March 12, 1992

       Surgeon General Antonia C. Novello, M.D., M.P.H., today
released Smoking and Health in the Americas, a report predicting
an epidemic of smoking-related disease and death in many coun-
tries of the western hemisphere in the absence of concerted anti-
tobacco efforts.
       The report, the first to cover all countries of the
Americas, was prepared by the Centers for Disease Control's
Office on Smoking and Health in collaboration with the Pan
American Health Organization.  PAHO will soon issue a country-by-
country report on the findings.
       In the past, smoking-related deaths and cigarette use in
Latin America and the Caribbean have been far below those in
North America.  But the new report says smoking prevalence has
risen to 50 percent or more among young people in some urban
areas of Latin America and the Caribbean--and is increasing among
women.  This "augurs poorly for the future,"  according to the
report, unless smoking is reduced by an organized anti-smoking
campaign.
       The report notes that cigarette smoking had a "spectacu-
lar" increase in the United States in the first half of the
twentieth century, continuing until 1964.  Following the release
of the 1964 Surgeon General's Report on Smoking and Health, U.S.
smoking began to decline, according to the new report and there
was "a period of rapid international expansion by the tobacco
companies."
       In making the new report public, Dr. Novello said she
hoped it would lead to systematic efforts against smoking in the
Caribbean and Latin America.  "This report raises great concern
about the devastating health consequences that can result if
current smoking prevalence is not curtailed in the Americas. 
Coordinated campaigns must be launched because progress toward a
smoke-free society requires regional coordination," Dr. Novello
said.
       The report is the 22nd in a series of Surgeons General's
reports on smoking and health mandated by law.  It examines
comprehensive data on historical, epidemiologic, economic and
social issues pertaining to tobacco use in the Americas.
       The Surgeon General's Office is a part of the Public
Health Service within HHS.

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