As a physician, former member of Congress, and former secretary of the U.S.Department of Health and Human Services, I have spent much of my career focused on policies that improve health outcomes.
I have also seen the toll of smoking up close.I lost my father to what I often call "Lucky Strike lungs." That experience has stayed with me — and it underscores a simple fact: smoking remains one of the nation’s most serious and persistent public health challenges.Yet in Washington, there is a growing habit of talking about smoking as if it were yesterday’s problem.
It is not.Roughly 25 million American adults still smoke cigarettes, and far too many have been left out of the public health conversation.
That is the central message of "The Forgotten Smoker," a new white paper from Philip Morris International U.S.(PMI U.S.) that urges policymakers to confront a reality they too often overlook: progress has stalled for millions of Americans still at greatest risk.From a physician’s perspective, these Americans are not abstractions.
They are patients, parents, workers, veterans and neighbors.Many have tried to quit more than once.
Many know the risks all too well.But understanding the danger and overcoming addiction are not the same thing.
If we are serious about reducing smoking-related disease, our policies must reflect the lived reality of adults who continue to smoke instead of assuming the problem will solve itself.A more effective approach starts with a straightforward public health principle: the greatest harm comes from combustion.The FDA has recognized that tobacco and nicotine products exist on a continuum of risk, with cigarettes at the most dangerous end and smoke-free alternatives generally posing lower health risks than continued smoking.
That matters.For adults who do not quit nicotine entirely, moving away from cigarettes can still be a meaningful health intervention.CIGARETTE SMOKING IN AMERICA PLUMMETS TO HISTORIC SINGLE-DIGIT LOW, NEW STUDY ...