Talking Points for States and Media Memo on CDC Ad Campaign
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Posted by: Natalia Gromov
We wanted to share two tools we have developed for use with
the CDC national media campaign: 1) talking points to defend STATE program
funding in light of the national campaign; 2) a media memo that can be shared
with local media in support of the campaign.
Talking Points on State Funding
Clearly, some enemies of tobacco control will try to argue
for cuts to state tobacco prevention since there is now a national media
campaign. We wanted to share the talking points below for use in rebutting this
ridiculous line of reasoning.
The CDC’s national media
campaign is an important complement to – and not a replacement for – state and
local efforts to reduce tobacco use. To keep making progress against tobacco –
the nation’s number one cause of preventable death – all levels of government
must step up efforts to implement proven strategies. At the state and local
level, these include higher tobacco taxes, comprehensive smoke-free air laws and
well-funded tobacco prevention and cessation programs that include mass media
campaigns. The recently released 2012 Surgeon General’s on tobacco showed that
we have conclusive scientific evidence that these strategies work: They work
individually and are even more effective when implemented as part of a
comprehensive approach.
While
the CDC media campaign is a critical step, it would be a huge mistake – and a
big step backward in the fight against tobacco – if states used this as an
excuse to cut back (OR CONTINUE UNDERFUNDING) on their tobacco prevention and
cessation efforts:
- The tobacco companies spend
$10.5 billion a year – over one million dollars an hour – to market their
deadly and addictive products. The CDC is spending just $54 million on this
campaign. That means the tobacco companies spend more in two days to promote
tobacco use than the CDC will be spending for this whole campaign. So the
states must do their part as well to counter tobacco marketing that entices
kids, discourages smokers from quitting and glamorizes tobacco
use.
- The states collect more than
$25 billion in revenue from the 1998 tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but
are spending less than two percent of it on tobacco prevention and cessation
programs. The states have to spend more of their tobacco money on preventing
kids from smoking and helping smokers quit, as many of them promised to do at
the time of the settlement. Currently, the states are spending just 12.4
percent of the CDC’s recommendation for tobacco
prevention.
- The states have cut funding
for tobacco prevention programs by 36 percent ($260 million) in the past four
years to a total of $456.7 million – the lowest level since the tobacco
settlement. It’s one of the main reasons why smoking declines have leveled off
in recent years. The amount the CDC is spending on this campaign comes nowhere
close to replacing the money that has been cut. The states have got to restore
and increase funding for tobacco prevention.
- It’s in the states’ financial
interest to invest in tobacco prevention and cessation programs. In addition to
killing 443,000 people each year, tobacco use costs the nation nearly $100
billion a year in health care bills. State taxpayers pay a big chunk of that
through Medicaid and other health care costs. There is growing evidence that
tobacco prevention programs not only save lives, they save money by reducing
tobacco-related health care costs. A December 2011 study found that in the first
10 years of its tobacco prevention program, which included mass media,
Washington State saved more than $5 in tobacco-related hospitalization costs for
every $1 spent. California has shown an even greater return on investment. It is
truly penny-wise and pound-foolish for the states not to fund tobacco prevention
programs.
We know how to win the fight
against tobacco, but we won’t win it unless all levels of government do their
part. The CDC has stepped up to the plate today. The states must as
well.
Media
Memo
This can be shared with media
in your community who are reporting on the campaign. We have shared with
national media outlets; feel free to customize for your use.
To:
Reporters, Editorial Writers and
Producers
From:
Contact:
Re:
National Media Campaign Is Key Step in Fight Against
Tobacco
On Thursday, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will launch the government’s
first-ever paid, nationwide media campaign aimed at encouraging smokers to quit
and preventing children from starting to smoke. It is a critical step to
reinvigorate the nation’s fight against tobacco use, which remains the leading
preventable cause of death in the United States.
This memo
outlines the clear need for this public education campaign; the research
demonstrating that mass media campaigns are effective in reducing smoking among
both youth and adults; and the growing evidence that tobacco prevention efforts
not only save lives, but also save money by reducing tobacco-related health care
costs.
Reinvigorating
the Fight Against Tobacco
There is an
urgent need for this media campaign. While the nation has made enormous
progress in reducing tobacco use, smoking declines have leveled off in recent
years as states have slashed funding for tobacco prevention programs by 36
percent and the tobacco industry has continued its aggressive
marketing.
Tobacco use
kills 443,000 Americans and costs the nation nearly $96 billion in health care
bills each year. A large portion of these costs are passed on to taxpayers
through programs such as Medicaid.
Some 45 million
adults and 3.6 million children and adolescents still smoke – and nearly 4,000
more kids take their first puff each day. Just last week, the latest Surgeon
General’s report found that youth smoking is still a "pediatric epidemic,”
driven by tobacco industry marketing that lures children to begin and continue
using tobacco.
The tobacco
industry spends $10.5 billion a year – more than a million dollars every hour –
on marketing that entices kids to start using tobacco, discourages smokers from
quitting and portrays its deadly and addictive products as normal and
appealing. The CDC’s campaign will counter the industry’s marketing with
messages that discourage kids from smoking, encourage smokers to quit and tell
the harsh truth about the debilitating and deadly diseases caused by tobacco
use.
The Evidence Is
Clear: Media Campaigns Work
Substantial
scientific evidence and results from numerous states show that mass media
campaigns reduce the number of children who start smoking and increase the
number of smokers who quit, saving lives and health care dollars. Public health
authorities that have examined the evidence, including the Surgeon General, the
National Cancer Institute, the Institute of Medicine and the CDC, have all
concluded that these campaigns work.
The new Surgeon
General’s report concluded, "Evidence indicates that mass media campaigns can be
one of the most effective strategies in changing social norms and preventing
youth smoking.” The report also found "strong evidence that media ads designed
for adults also decrease the prevalence of smoking among
youth.”
Research has
also found that the most effective campaigns evoke strong emotions and
realistically depict the devastating health consequences of tobacco use. A
comprehensive 2008 scientific review by the National Cancer Institute, titled
The Role of the Media in Promoting and Reducing Tobacco Use, concluded,
"A strong evidence base is emerging for anti-tobacco advertising, with a
consensus that advertisements that arouse strong negative emotions perform
better than those that do not. These advertisements tend to depict serious harm
done by smoking or secondhand smoke in an authentic way….”
These
conclusions are supported by results from states, including California, Florida,
New York and Washington, that have conducted extensive media campaigns as part
of their successful tobacco prevention and cessation programs. These states have
reduced smoking rates far faster, and to lower levels, than the nation as a
whole, and the evidence shows that media campaigns have helped drive these
declines.
In California,
hard-hitting media campaigns have been a key component of a comprehensive
tobacco prevention and cessation program that has reduced adult and high school
smoking rates to just 11.9 percent and 13.8 percent, while national rates are
still above 19 percent. If every state had California’s current adult smoking
rate, there would be 17 million fewer smokers in the United States. An
evaluation of California’s media campaign concluded that it contributed to
significant reductions in smoking among both youth and
adults.
Similarly, New
York and Florida have driven adult and youth smoking rates to well below the
national average, with high school smoking rates falling to 12.6 percent in New
York and 11.9 percent in Florida. Media campaigns have been major components of
tobacco prevention and cessation efforts in both states.
Nationally,
research found that Legacy’s truth® campaign, targeted at young people,
was directly responsible for keeping 450,000 teens from starting to smoke during
its first four years.
There is also
growing evidence that tobacco prevention and cessation programs – including
media campaigns – save money by reducing tobacco-related health care costs. A
December 2011 study published by the American Journal of Public Health found
that in the first 10 years of its tobacco prevention program, which included
mass media, Washington state saved more than $5 in tobacco-related
hospitalization costs for every $1 spent.
In summary, the
evidence is clear that mass media campaigns are an essential component of any
effort to reduce tobacco use. In launching this campaign, the CDC is providing
much needed national leadership that will reduce smoking among both youth and
adults, save lives and reduce tobacco-related health care costs. Funded by the
Prevention and Public Health Fund created by the health care reform law, this
campaign shows the great potential of the fund to improve health and reduce
health care costs in the United States.
Please contact
us for more information or for helping in contacting scientific experts who have
researched the effectiveness of mass media campaigns.
More
information:
Fact Sheet:
Public Education Campaigns Reduce Tobacco Use:
http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0051.pdf
Surgeon
General’s Report: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/preventing-youth-tobacco-use/index.html
Source: Danny McGoldrick, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
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