| Statement
by Russell Sciandra, Director |
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January 19, 2006 We are calling upon the Legislature to approve Governor Pataki’s proposed increase in funding for the Department of Health’s Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Program. Most of the groups represented here today advocated for creation of the Tobacco Control Program in the Health Care Reform Act of 2000. We are proud of our creation. After a slow start, New York’s Tobacco Control Program has become a leader among state antismoking efforts. It funds tobacco use reduction activities across the state, including the Reality Check youth program, community-based coalitions in every county, a toll-free smoker’s quitline, anti-smoking TV and radio ads, and free nicotine patches for smokers who want to quit. In recent years, we’ve had one principal complaint about the program – it hasn’t had adequate resources for the huge task it’s facing. Cigarette makers spend a billion dollars a year in New York promoting smoking. At this year’s funding level, the Tobacco Program is outgunned almost 25 to one. Despite this imbalance, we are beginning to see real success. Smoking rates have fallen by more than 15 percent since 2001. But there is no guarantee this progress will continue. Cigarette companies, like any business, will respond to declining sales with new marketing ploys that we must be prepared to meet. The Governor’s proposed increase goes a long way toward leveling the playing field against Big Tobacco. Now the program’s health message will reach into every corner of the state, into every ethnic and linguistic community, every day of the year. Tobacco kills 25,000 New Yorkers and costs us $7.5 billion in health care bills annually. Based on the experience of states that have invested in tobacco control, we estimate that, if the program’s funding is continued at the proposed level, New York can reduce the number of adult smokers by one-third and cut the number of teenage smokers nearly in half by 2010. That translates into one million fewer New Yorkers that smoke five years from today. There is no other action state government can take that will have such a profound effect on New York’s public health and health care costs. The Governor’s proposal to increase total anti-tobacco funding to $85.41 million a year will make New York the leader among states in the fight against smoking. His commitment to a long-term, robustly funded prevention program signals a recognition, not only that tobacco use imposes a huge burden on society, but that we can do something about it. With Governor Pataki’s leadership, New York is setting an example
for every state in the nation to follow. Russell Sciandra, Director |
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