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Achievements in
Public Health: Tobacco UseUnited States,
1900-1999
MMWR Highlights
November 5, 1999 / Vol. 48 / No. 43
- The reduction of cigarette smoking
occurring since the 1960s is acknowledged as one of the ten greatest public health
achievements of this century.
- Per capita consumption decreased of
cigarettes from a high of more than 4,345 cigarettes in 1963 to a low of 2,261 in 1998,
the lowest level since the early 1940s.
- Smoking prevalence rates among adults aged
18 years and older decreased from 42.4 percent in 1965 to 24.7 percent in 1997.
- An estimated 1.6 million deaths were
postponed because of gains against cigarette smoking, saving more than 33 million
person-years of life. Deaths from heart disease have decreased from 307.4 per 100,000 in
1950 to 134.6 per 100,000 in 1996.
- Many people have been credited for the
tremendous public health advancements in reducing tobacco use. One of the most noted is
Dr. Ernst Wynder, who provided some of the earliest evidence that tobacco smoke contains
cancer-causing agents.
- Despite tremendous public health strides
made in reducing tobacco use more effort is needed to reduce adult smoking, which has
remained virtually unchanged in the 1990s; to reverse smoking prevalence among young
people, which has been on the rise since 1991; to reduce disparities in smoking prevalence
and smoking-related illnesses and deaths among racial/ethnic populations; and to implement
and enforce public health policies to protect citizens from secondhand smoke.
Selected Early Tobacco Control
Milestones
- The landmark 1964 Surgeon General’s
Report on Smoking and Health provided official evidence that cigarette smoking is a cause
of cancer and other serious diseases.
- In 1965, Congress passed the Federal
Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act, requiring health warnings on all cigarette
packages: "Caution Cigarette Smoking May be Hazardous to Your Health."
Selected Recent Tobacco Control
Milestones
- In 1988, Congress mandates smoking bans on
domestic flights scheduled for two hours or less. Northwest Airlines voluntarily bans
smoking on all flights in North America.
- In 1996, at a White House ceremony,
President Clinton announces the release of the Food and Drug Administration’s rule
regulating tobacco sales and marketing aimed at minors.
- On November 23, 1998, the tobacco industry
agreed to a 46-state Masters Settlement Agreement, the largest settlement in history,
nearly $206 billion.
CDC helps the ACS celebrate "Great American
Smokeout"
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