Tobacco Control Program

Program Overview

The goal of the Tobacco Control Program (TCP) is to reduce the overall prevalence of tobacco use among Nevada residents. The TCP is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office on Smoking and Health and the Fund for a Healthy Nevada. The Nevada TCP has adopted the National Tobacco Control Goals: 

• Prevent initiation of tobacco use among youth and young adults  
• Promote tobacco use cessation among adults and youth 
• Eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke 
• Identify and eliminate tobacco-related disparities 

Evidence-based, statewide tobacco control programs that are comprehensive, sustained, and accountable have been shown to reduce smoking rates, as well as tobacco-related diseases and deaths. A comprehensive statewide tobacco control program is a coordinated effort to establish smoke-free policies and social norms, to promote and assist tobacco users to quit, and to prevent initiation of tobacco use.

Burden

Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of disease, disability, and death in the United States.  More than 500,000 people die of smoking-related illnesses in the United States each year. Millions more people continue to live with painful, disabling diseases caused by tobacco smoking.  Approximately 4,100 deaths are attributable to smoking related disease in Nevada each year. 5.6 million children alive today will die prematurely from smoking if current smoking rates persist. According to the CDC, 41,000 Nevada children will die prematurely from smoking if current smoking rates persist. The Estimated annual costs of tobacco use in the U.S. continue to increase and now approach $300 billion annually, with direct medical costs of at least $170 billion and productivity losses of more than $156 billion a year.   

• Annual health care costs in Nevada directly caused by smoking total $1.09 billion 
• Annual productivity losses in Nevada amount to more than $150 billion 
• Portion covered by the state Medicaid program totals $123 million
• Nevada Residents' state & federal tax burden from smoking-caused government expenditures average to $649 per household

Overarching Components of Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs

1. State and community interventions.
2. Mass-reach health communication interventions.
3. Cessation interventions.
4. Surveillance and evaluation.
5. Infrastructure, administration, and management.