OPINIONLots more to do in fight against deadly tobacco epidemicAMA Leader Commentary. By J. Edward Hill, MD, March 20, 2006. A message to all physicians from the president of the American Medical Association, J. Edward Hill, MD. What kills more Americans, every year than alcohol, AIDS, car crashes, illegal drugs, murders and suicides combined? The answer, as always, is smoking. As a physician deeply committed to public health, and as president of an organization that has made tobacco control one of its top priorities, I am appalled by this statistic -- and saddened that I have to keep trotting it out year after year. What's most maddening is that there are dozens of effective, proven programs for preventing tobacco use and helping motivated smokers to quit. What's more, we, as a nation, have the funds to support these programs. All we lack is the political will -- and the good sense -- to use those funds appropriately. A little more than seven years ago, every state received millions upon millions of dollars from the settlement of a multistate lawsuit against the tobacco industry. In return, the medical and public health community were led to believe that the states would use those funds to combat tobacco use at every level. Anti-tobacco activists hoped that these dollars could save some of the 400,000 American lives lost annually to tobacco addiction. They also hoped to reduce the direct and indirect costs of tobacco use, which in 2005 added up to $182 billion. Today, states are collecting record amounts of tobacco-generated revenue from the tobacco settlement and from higher tobacco taxes. Yet these dollars are not, in most cases, going to tobacco education, cessation and prevention programs. Instead, this money has been used to fill state budget gaps or to fund various pet projects, including, in the AMA's home state of Illinois, a new parking lot at a state facility. [...]Full text of American Medical News content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2006 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
|
Feature articlesHealth reform review The Massachusetts experience Litigation stress Being sued is personal as well as professional Comprehensive coverage
Most-viewedNov. 23 issueAMA meeting: Delegate vote refines AMA stance on system reform Liability premiums stay stable, but insurers warn this might not last Columns and series
From the vault: 5 years agoState tort reform ballot wins set stage for further battles Nov. 22, 2004 
|
SHARE
