Prevention Matters

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released the report Tobacco Control State Highlights 2010, which provides tobacco control programs and decision-makers with state-specific data regarding proven, high-impact tobacco strategies. The report aims to address the public health impact of smoking and call attention to the urgent need to end the tobacco use epidemic.

Tobacco Control State Highlights 2010 provides state-specific data for a number of indicators including prevalence of tobacco use; Medicaid coverage for cessation counseling and medications; state retail environment tobacco licensure laws; and state funding for tobacco control. The indicators that were selected for this report are considered important and timely because they are closely aligned with high-impact program and policy recommendations from CDC’s Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control, 2007 and MPOWER, the World Health Organization’s framework for reducing tobacco use globally.

Key information provided by the report includes:

• There are currently 24 states and D.C. that have passed comprehensive smoke-free laws
• In 2007, seven states (Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Pennsylvania) provided insurance coverage to Medicaid enrollees for all FDA-approved medicines and counseling to quit smoking.
• Six states (Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nebraska, and Tennessee) had no cessation coverage for their Medicaid population
• Combined interventions – increasing the price of cigarettes, implementing smoke-free policies, implementing mass media advertising campaigns, reducing tobacco advertising and promotion, controlling access to tobacco products, and promoting and assisting smokers to quit – are proven to significantly reduce smoking.

According to CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. "Smokefree laws, hard-hitting ads, and higher cigarette prices are among our strongest weapons in this fight against tobacco use. We must redouble efforts to bring down smoking rates, prevent suffering and premature death, and cut health care costs by reducing smoking."

In the hopes of helping states take steps toward permanent change in coverage, access, and utilization of tobacco cessation treatments, Partnership for Prevention has awarded six ACTTION State Grants for the implementation of innovative strategies to increase access to treatment. Funds are to be used primarily for the development of state alliances and the creation of strategic plans. The projects will have a range of focuses including employer groups, health care systems, the uninsured, and the behavioral health/substance abuse populations.

The Partnership for Prevention ACTTION Grantee States are:

• Colorado - Cessation Coverage/Treatment for Colorado’s Uninsured
• Florida - Tobacco Cessation Summit & Action Plan
• Nevada - Increasing Cessation Access for All Nevadans
• New England - New England Partnership for Smoking Cessation Policy
• New York – New York State Access to Tobacco Use Treatment Strategic Planning Project
• Virginia - Virginia Partnership for Tobacco Use Cessation

Brandi Robinson
Tobacco Control Program Associate
Partnership for Prevention