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U.S. Smoking Rate Declines to Record Low

Photo Courtesy of Live Science

Photo Courtesy of Live Science

Smoking rate among the U.S. adults has declined to its all-time low in 2014, according to a fresh report issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC report informed that smoking rate declined to 16.8 percent among U.S. adults in 2014 compared to 20.9 in 2005. The CDC report suggests that stricter laws and media campaigns about health hazards related to smoking have played an important role in reducing the smoking tendencies among adults in the United States.

Cigarette use declined the most among the 18-24 age group but this could also be due to alternatives available to smoking. The use of e-cigarettes has increased in the recent years.

Nearly half a million people die every year in the United States due to smoking related health issues. Medical expenses related to smoking have been estimated over $300 billion each year.

The CDC report is part of an ongoing effort to track progress of the Healthy People 2020 objective, aimed to drive nationwide cigarette consumption down to 12 percent of the population or less.

Changes in the U.S. health-care system continue to offer opportunities to improve the use of clinical preventive services among adults. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 is increasing the number of Americans with health insurance and is expected to improve tobacco cessation coverage.

Currently, neither private insurers nor state Medicaid programs consistently provide comprehensive coverage of evidence-based cessation treatments. In 2015, although all 50 state Medicaid programs covered some tobacco cessation treatments for some Medicaid enrollees, only nine states covered individual and group counseling and all seven FDA-approved cessation medications for all Medicaid enrollees.

Though obesity rate continues to rise in the US, a decline has been witnessed in the adult smoking rate in the nation. The figures released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has unveiled that around 17% of American adults have smoked in 2014, which is around 20% less from the adult smoking rate in 2005.

Those who continue to smoke, the number of cigarettes smoked daily has declined to 13.8% from 16.7% in 2005. Along with this, the CDC report has unveiled that there are many categories, where it has become quite difficult to bring a cut on smoking habit and especially among the poor.

Only 12.9% of adults having private health insurance continue to smoke cigarettes, but 29.1% of those on Medicaid were smoking in 2014. The smoking rate among adults who live below the federal poverty level of $19,790 in annual income of family having three members was 26.3%.

It has also been found that smoking rate is especially quite high among those having a general education development certificate (GED) at 43%, and also among those as multiracial (27.9%). The ones identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual were also having a high rate of smoking, 23.9% in 2014.

“The reduction in smoking prevalence over the last decade is a major victory for public health”, affirmed Dr. Jaimee L. Heffner, a Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center expert in tobacco cessation.

A new proposal by the Department of Housing and Urban Development aims to prohibit ‘lit tobacco products’ in apartments and indoor common areas of the country’s public housing system.

Previously several cities have implemented these policies to ban smoking. In July, the commissioners of Philadelphia’s Housing Authority voted to put a ban on smoking. In Philadelphia almost 55% of tenants were in favor of smoke-free housing, said officials.

Housing authorities in Houston and Boston also adopted similar restrictions for prohibiting smoking. But so far New York, which is home to the largest and most complex public housing system, was still lagging behind to adopt any such restriction to ban smoking.