American Lung Association Applauds New Surgeon General Report Addressing Persistent Tobacco-Related Health Disparities

Today, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy released the 35th Surgeon General Report’s on tobacco, Eliminating Tobacco-Related Disease and Death: Addressing Disparities, which focuses on the myriad of tobacco-related health disparities in the U.S. 
 
Important findings and conclusions from the report include:

• Cigarette smoking remains a major cause of death and disease, causing more than 490,000 deaths per year, including 50,000 Black adults, 15,000 Hispanic adults, and 400,000 White adults.
• The breadth of tobacco-caused disparities continues to persist and expand within race and ethnicity, level of income, level of education, sexual orientation and gender identity, occupation, geography, behavioral health status, and disability status. Some have widened further since the last Surgeon General’s report on tobacco-related disparities in 1998. 
• The tobacco industry’s targeted marketing of its deadly products is largely responsible for these disparities. Tobacco marketing in general and marketing for menthol cigarettes in particular is more common in neighborhoods with greater percentages of African American residents and residents with lower incomes.

In response, the American Lung Association’s President and CEO Harold Wimmer issued the following statement:
 
"For decades, the Surgeon General has been a trusted medical voice, sounding a clarion call for action in battling the death and disease caused by tobacco. Today's report builds upon that history and once again lays out a blueprint for policymakers and the public.

“The American Lung Association welcomes the Surgeon General’s findings regarding health disparities in the use of tobacco, exposure to secondhand smoke and the death and disease that disproportionately affects in the communities insidiously targeted by the tobacco companies. Achieving health equity requires knowing where these disparities exist and acting to eliminate them.

"The Surgeon General traces the path of the industry's destruction throughout the nation. While no community is spared, the discriminate targeting and aggressive marketing by the tobacco industry is shown through who is affected by tobacco-caused death and disease. 
 
“Among its many findings, the report concludes that menthol flavored tobacco products increase the likelihood of tobacco initiation, addiction, and sustained use; and are target marketed and used disproportionately by certain population groups, including Black people and people who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual. Following the Biden administration’s failure in 2023 to finalize the lifesaving rules to end the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars across the country, the American Lung Association urges cities and states across the U.S. to pass policies to end the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, flavored cigars and flavored e-cigarettes. 
 
“The Surgeon General’s report also emphasizes that many people who now use commercial tobacco products have the least resources for and face the greatest barriers to quitting. It is imperative to pair passage of proven tobacco prevention policies with evidence-based, accessible support to help people quit the use of tobacco products.”