At a glance
The first report of the Surgeon General's Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health was released in 1964. It was a landmark first step to diminish the impact of tobacco use on the health of the American people. The new report – the 35th on Smoking and Health – reviews the latest scientific evidence on commercial tobacco-related health disparities in the United States. It documents that we’ve made significant progress reducing commercial tobacco use in the United States overall, but tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke has not decreased at the same rate across all population groups.
Overview
Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States (U.S.) --causing about 1 in 5 of all deaths. The good news is the U.S. has made progress in reducing tobacco use in the overall population. Cigarette smoking among all U.S. adults has declined by more than 70% since 1965 (from 42.4 % in 1965 to 11.5% in 2021). But progress has not resulted in the same outcomes across all U.S. population groups. As a result, some groups continue to experience tobacco-related health disparities.
A new Surgeon General's report, "Eliminating Tobacco-Related Disease and Death: Addressing Disparities: A Report of the Surgeon General", highlights the latest scientific evidence on disparities in:
- commercial tobacco product use,
- exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke,
- exposure to marketing of tobacco products; and
- smoking-related health outcomes.
The report outlines tobacco prevention and control strategies that have the potential to reduce tobacco-related disparities. It also offers a vision for a future where zero lives are harmed by or lost to commercial tobacco, and a call to action for all sectors of society to realize that vision.
Consumer guide
Fact sheets
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Video
Learn to live a healthy life, free of tobacco-related disease, disability, and death, by reading Dr. Vivek H. Murthy's new Report of the Surgeon General.