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For immediate release: October 11, 2005 (05-131)
Contact:
Media inquiries: Tim Church,
Communications Office (360) 236-4077, 360-534-0068 pager
Adult smoking rate in Washington continues to drop, saving
more than a billion dollars in future health care costs
Washington now has the ninth
lowest smoking rate in the nation
YAKIMA ¾ During a public health conference in Yakima today, Governor Christine Gregoire announced that the number of adult smokers in Washington continues to drop since the launch of the state Tobacco Prevention and Control Program in 2000. According to the latest survey, Washington’s adult smoking rate is now down to 19.5 percent.
“Washington has become a national leader in fighting tobacco use,” Gov. Gregoire said. “This is about more than numbers; it’s about real people in our state who will live longer, healthier lives because they have quit smoking or decided not to start.”
Washington’s general adult smoking rate has declined from 22.4 percent in 1999 to 19.5 percent in 2004, moving the state up in rank from 20th to 10th in 2003, and now into ninth place. That 13 percent drop translates to about 130,000 fewer smokers in the state and will save $1.6 billion in future health care costs.
If the current trend continues, the tobacco program is on track to reduce the adult smoking rate to 16.5 percent by 2010, the goal set when the comprehensive program began five years ago. The national rates are currently still above 20 percent.
“Our hard work in tobacco prevention continues to make a real difference,” said Secretary of Health Mary Selecky. “Working together with all our partners, we’re getting through to people and making sure they have the help they need to quit smoking.”
The Department of Health uses a comprehensive survey called the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to collect a variety of health-related information, including tobacco use. In 2003 BRFSS began surveying Spanish speaking residents to include the state’s growing Latino population in health statistics. Using the more comprehensive survey data, the adult smoking rate in Washington is even lower at 19.2 percent.
The Washington State Tobacco Quit Line is one of the key elements of the state’s adult tobacco prevention and control work. Close to 70,000 Washington residents have called the toll free quit line (http://www.quitline.com) at 1-877-270-STOP (in Spanish, 1-877-NO-FUME) for free counseling, referrals to cessation programs and free quit kits. The state has also trained thousands of physicians and other health care providers on how to help their patients quit.
The Tobacco Prevention and Control Program has also been successful in reducing the number of youth who start smoking. Since the program started, there are 65,000 fewer youth smoking.
Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death in the nation. Tobacco-related diseases kill about 8,000 people every year in Washington — more than AIDS, alcohol, drug abuse, car crashes, murders, suicides and fires combined. Each year the tobacco industry spends more than $160 million in Washington alone to recruit new smokers to take up the habit.
Press materials are available online.
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