Prevention Matters

"Best and Worst News for Prevention” is based on a purposive sample consisting of expert staff members who each week choose to share their opinions on the best and worst news for prevention.

BEST

Smokers Urged to Join Thursday's Great American Smokeout

Get ready, get set, quit! Thursday marks the annual Great American Smokeout, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, which urges all smokers to lay off the habit for at least 24 hours. There have been dramatic changes in attitudes about smoking and a large decrease in smoking rates since the Smokeout was first held in 1977. The annual event includes local and nationwide events meant to encourage smokers to quit for at least one day in the hope that they may decide to permanently kick the habit. The Smokeout has helped focus attention on the dangers of tobacco use and contributed to a "cultural revolution" in tobacco control, says the American Cancer Society. Between 1978 and 2009, the percentage of adults who smoke in the United States fell from 34 percent to 21 percent, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).


WORST

Number of Uninsured Rises, Report Says


The number of uninsured adults in the United States continues to rise, with one in four adults under 65 reporting they were without health insurance at some point in the last year, according to a recent report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  About 50 million adults said they were uninsured for at least some time. The report is based on a survey conducted between January and March.


The “Best and Worst” awards are announced each week in “Prevention Matters,” the blog of Partnership for Prevention. "Best and Worst News for Prevention” is based on a purposive sample of expert staff members who each week choose to share their opinions on the best and worst news for prevention. More information is available at http://www.prevent.org/.

Despite their receiving record amounts of revenue from tobacco taxes and from the 1998 state tobacco settlement, states have cut funding for tobacco prevention programs by more than 15 percent in the past year, says a new report by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

States will collect $25.1 billion in revenue from the tobacco settlement and from tobacco taxes in 2010, and many states will even raise tobacco taxes. But they have cut funding for tobacco prevention by $103.4 million in the past year,and will spend just $567.5 million (2.3 percent of tobacco revenues) on tobacco prevention and cessation programs.

Don't forget the 34th annual Great American Smokeout will take place On November 19. Hosted by the American Cancer Society, this event each year promotes smoking cessation by encouraging smokers to give up smoking for a full day. This year's theme is "creating more birthdays,” since smokers who quit at age 35 gain an additional eight years and those who quit at 55 gain an average of an additional five years.

The Great American Smokeout website, www.cancer.org/greatamericans, provides excellent resources to aid in cessation techniques. They suggest that the first step taken should be to select a specific day to quit, within the next 30 days. The website also offers tip sheets and a “Quit Clock.”

Tobacco use is the single most preventable case of disease and death in the US. Partnership for Prevention and ACTTION Coalition are working to provide greater access to smoking cessation services. Many of these cessation programs include collaboration with the federal government and business employers to provide necessary access to cessation services for their employees. Please visit the Partnership for Prevention at www.prevent.org and the ACTTION Coalition at http://www.acttiontoquit.org/.