CDC Tackles Smoking

Last week the federal government will begin advertising against smoking; up until last week most of these campaigns were sponsored by local/state governments and NGO groups.  While the $54 million advertising campaign will boost the number of anti-smoking ads, it still is far below what the big tobacco companies spend;  this sum is about what big tobacco spends on advertising in TWO days.

The new series of campaign ads will use more graphics, a technique that has been shown to be the most effective with getting people to quit smoking.  One of the ads which will soon begin to air is advice from Terry, a 51 year old woman who used to be a smoker.  You can check out the ad in the NY Times Health section.

Anti-smoking campaigns have the ability to do as much good as public health efforts like vaccinations and safe drinking water.  Officials estimate that the campaign will help 50,000 people quit.  Today, smoking remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the US.  "More than eight million Americans live with a smoking-related disease" and kills more than 400,000 on an annual basis.