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Authors ”suggest ways to advance equity in tobacco control in the USA. These recommendations fall across five categories: surveillance, interventions, funding, accountability, and addressing root causes. Policy interventions that will have a pro-equity impact on smoking and related diseases should be prioritized. Funding should be designated to tobacco control activities focused on eliminating racial and socioeconomic inequities in smoking, and tobacco control programs should be held accountable for meeting equity-related goals.”

Tobacco Control 2024;33:e246-e253.
https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/33/e2/e246

Note: An accompanying editorial about social equity in Tobacco Control states, “Mills et al. highlight that an equity focus often goes no further than describing inequities in tobacco use. They analysed major US tobacco control reports to provide practical and detailed recommendations to target and eliminate tobacco use inequities. The problems they highlight are not unique to the USA; while the strategies may differ, their recommendations have broad applicability for policy-makers, funding agencies, ”

TRC Research Commentary

Eliminating tobacco-related disease and death: addressing disparities — a report of the Surgeon General. Description: Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, Nov 2024.

https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/2024-sgr-tobacco-related-health-disparities-full-report.pdf

From Tobacco-Free Kids: What drives tobacco-related health disparities?

“The report makes clear that the tobacco industry is a major driver of these disparities, especially the industry’s decades-long targeting of Black and other communities with menthol cigarettes and other flavored products.”

ASH USA highlighted a call to action:

“The time is now to accelerate a whole-of-society effort to reach the tobacco endgame: a world in which zero lives are harmed by or lost to tobacco use. By driving down the appeal, availability, and addictiveness of tobacco products, we can make this more than just a possibility. We can make it a reality. Can we summon the moral courage as a nation to do so for one another, our children, and generations to come?”

Comment: Our goal must be to fight against nicotine industries to obtain zero human harm from tobacco/nicotine use.

Stephen Hamann