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History
of the 1964
Surgeon General's Report
on Smoking and Health
1964 Surgeon General's Report on Smoking and Health
- More than 40 years ago, on January 11, 1964, Luther L. Terry, M.D., Surgeon General of the
U.S. Public Health Service, released the report of the Surgeon General's Advisory
Committee on Smoking and Health. That landmark document, now referred to as the first
Surgeon General's Report on Smoking and Health, was America's first widely publicized
official recognition that cigarette smoking is a cause of cancer and other serious
diseases.
- On
the basis of more than 7,000 articles relating to smoking and disease already available at
that time in the biomedical literature, the Advisory Committee concluded that cigarette
smoking is a cause of lung cancer and laryngeal cancer in men, a probable cause of lung
cancer in women, and the most important cause of chronic bronchitis. The committee stated
that "Cigarette smoking is a health hazard of sufficient importance in the United
States to warrant appropriate remedial action."
- What would constitute "appropriate remedial action" was left unspecified. But
the release of the report was the first in a series of steps, still being taken more than
40 years later, to diminish the impact of tobacco use on the health of the American
people.
-
The circumstances surrounding the release of the first report in 1964 are worth
remembering. The date chosen was a Saturday morning to guard against a precipitous
reaction on Wall Street. An auditorium in the State Department was selected because its
security could be assuredit had been the site for press conferences of the late
President John F. Kennedy, whose assassination had occurred fewer than 2 months earlier.
-
The first two copies of the 387-page, brown-covered report were hand delivered to the West
Wing of the White House at 7:30 on that Saturday morning. At 9:00, accredited press
representatives were admitted to the auditorium and "locked-in," without access
to telephones. Surgeon General Terry and his Advisory Committee took their seats on the
platform. The report was distributed and reporters were allowed 90 minutes to read it.
Questions were answered by Dr. Terry and his committee members. Finally, the doors were
opened and the news was spread. For several days, the report furnished newspaper headlines
across the country and lead stories on television newscasts. Later it was ranked among the
top news stories of 1964.
-
During the 40 years that have elapsed since that report, individual citizens, private
organizations, public agencies, and elected officials have pursued the Advisory
Committee's call for "appropriate remedial action." Early on, the U.S. Congress
adopted the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act of 1965 and the Public Health
Cigarette Smoking Act of 1969. These laws required a health warning on cigarette packages,
banned cigarette advertising in the broadcasting media, and called for an annual report on
the health consequences of smoking.
- In
1964, the Public Health Service established a small unit called the National Clearinghouse
for Smoking and Health (NCSH). Through the years, the Clearinghouse and its successor
organization, the Office on Smoking and Health, have been responsible for 27 reports on
the health consequences of smoking. In close cooperation with voluntary health
organizations, the Public Health Service has supported highly successful
state and
community programs to reduce tobacco use, has disseminated research findings related to
tobacco use, and has ensured the continued public visibility of antismoking messages.
-
Throughout this period, we have witnessed expansion in scientific knowledge of the health
hazards of smoking and the benefits of quitting, growing public knowledge of the dangers
of active smoking and breathing environmental tobacco smoke, increased availability of
programs to prevent young people from starting to smoke and to help smokers quit, and
widespread adoption of policies that discourage use of tobacco. The benefits
of comprehensive approaches to tobacco use have been well documented.
-
Within this evolving social milieu, the population has been giving up
smoking in increasing numbers. Nearly half of all living adults who ever
smoked have quit.
-
The antismoking campaign has been a major public health success. Those who have
participated in this campaign can take pride in the progress that has been made. This achievement has few parallels in the history of public
health. It was accomplished despite the addictive nature of tobacco and the powerful
economic forces promoting its use.
-
However, 46.2 million Americans still smoke, 8.6 million become ill each
year, and 440,000 die each year as a result of tobacco use. Thus, efforts to
implement proven interventions must be continued and expanded.
January 11, 2004 Marks the 40th
Anniversary of the Inaugural Surgeon General's Report on Smoking and Health
This material was compiled by the Office on Smoking and Health, National
Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. Updated January 2004
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