Despite the nation’s “substantial progress in reducing cigarette smoking and secondhand smoke exposure” in the overall US population, this “progress has not been equal for all population groups,” according to the US Surgeon General’s new report on health disparities related to tobacco use.
“Tobacco use imposes a heavy toll on families across generations. Now is the time to accelerate our efforts to create a world in which zero lives are harmed by or lost to tobacco,” US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said in a statement. “This report offers a vision for a tobacco-free future, focused on those who bear the greatest burden, and serves as a call to action for all people to play a role in realizing that vision.”
The last Surgeon General’s report on tobacco-related disparities was released more than two decades ago in 1998, with the most recent report showing that some of the disparities “have widened further,” according to a news release from the American Lung Association.
These disparities in tobacco use “persist by race and ethnicity, income, education, sexual orientation and gender identity, occupation, geography, behavioral health status, and other factors,” with cigarette use and secondhand smoke continuing to cause nearly half a million deaths a year annually in the United States, according to a news release from the US Department of Health and Human Services. Smoking remains the “primary cause of lung and bronchus cancers—the leading cause of cancer death in the United States,” according to the executive summary of the report.
The 2024 report expands upon the 1998 report to include “data and trends by additional demographic factors and their intersection.” The most recent report also “summarizes research on factors that influence tobacco-related disparities, and outlines actions everyone can take to eliminate these disparities and advance health equity in the United States,” officials said.
The State of Tobacco-Related Disparities
While smoking has declined by more than 70% since 1965, the “progress achieved through improvements in tobacco-related policies, regulations, programs, research, clinical care, and other areas” has “not resulted in the same outcomes across all US population groups,” according to the announcement.
“Tobacco use continues to decline. Americans increasingly understand tobacco products are dangerous and addictive and many are taking advantage of available tools to help them quit. That’s great news,” US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary of Health Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “Smoking is still the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. That’s unacceptable. We will keep working until tobacco is no longer a menace to individuals and families across the nation. We will continue our efforts to improve health equity and support communities that remain the most vulnerable.”
The report showed that the rate of cigarette smoking is higher among indigenous people than in other racial and ethnic groups, and smoking among men and women living in poverty is more than twice as common compared to those not living in poverty. Smoking rates are also higher among adults with lower levels of education; people who identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual; adults who work in manual labor and service jobs; people who reside in rural areas; adults who reside in the Midwest or South; and people who have a mental health condition or substance use disorder.
“Despite the good news that deaths due to secondhand tobacco smoke exposure have declined by more than 50% since 2006, among people who don’t smoke, secondhand smoke exposure remains disproportionately high among children, Black people, people with lower incomes, and adults with lower levels of education,” officials said in the announcement, emphasizing that the “magnitude of these disparities has increased since 2000.”
US Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Health Adm. Rachel L. Levine weighed in on the disparities uncovered by the report in a statement.
“While there is much to celebrate, the progress has not been equal across all populations or communities. Progress, in the form of improvements in tobacco-related policies, regulations, programs, research, clinical care, and other areas, has not resulted in the same outcomes for everyone,” Levine said. “We have not made progress unless we have all made progress.”
For the Surgeon General’s full report, information, resources, a report executive summary, a consumer guide, and fact sheets, visit www.SurgeonGeneral.gov or www.CDC.gov/EndTobaccoDisparities.
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