MMWR – Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

1. Adult Awareness of Tobacco Advertising, Promotion, and Sponsorship — 14 Countries

CDC
Division of News & Electronic Media           
(404) 639-3286

Countries with comprehensive tobacco marketing restrictions including bans on point-of-sale advertising have low levels of awareness of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorships. Many countries have adopted tobacco advertising restrictions in traditional media channels; however, very few countries have adopted comprehensive bans of all tobacco marketing, including advertising, promotion and sponsorships. Findings from Global Adult Tobacco Surveys in fourteen countries show that awareness of tobacco marketing is low in countries that have comprehensive bans. In all but one country, awareness of advertising in stores was highest as compared to other channels of tobacco marketing, such as billboards, sponsorship of sporting events, and sales or coupons for cigarettes. Reducing exposure to tobacco advertising is critical to eliminating initiation of tobacco use in youth and young adults and helping smokers to quit.

2. State Tobacco Revenues Compared with Tobacco Control Appropriations — United States, 1998–2010

CDC
Division of News & Electronic Media           
(404) 639-3286

States that invest in effective tobacco control programs at levels recommended by CDC can achieve larger and more rapid reductions in tobacco use and tobacco-related deaths, disease, and health care costs. While the intent of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement was to reimburse states for Medicaid costs related to tobacco use and to prevent youth initiation of smoking, states have used the monies to pay general expenses or to fund programs other than tobacco control. From 1998 to 2010, states collected a combined total of $243.8 billion in tobacco industry settlement pay­ments and cigarette excise tax revenues, but invested only $8.1 billion in effective state tobacco control programs.  Had states followed CDC’s published Best Practices guidelines, they would have invested $29.2 billion during that period. While total state and federal investment in state tobacco control efforts increased from 1998 to 2002, state investments have declined steadily every year since. And, currently, many states face substantial cuts and near-elimination of program funding.

3. Work-Related Asthma — 38 States and District of Columbia, 2006–2009

CDC
Division of News & Electronic Media           
(404) 639-3286

Work-related asthma is a preventable but under-recognized illnesses and expansion of surveillance efforts to better target intervention efforts is needed. Some 9 percent of all asthma cases are asthma caused or made worse by work-related exposures, data from 38 states and the District of Columbia suggest. The data also suggest that older workers and certain ethnic or minority populations are most at risk. The findings highlight the importance of expanding occupational asthma surveillance to better understand the risk factors for these preventable but under-recognized illnesses, and to better focus effective preventive efforts. Expansion of work-related asthma surveillance to include information on the respondents’ industry and occupation would enhance our understanding of work-related asthma epidemiology and enable states, other government agencies, health professionals, employers, workers, and worker representatives to better target intervention efforts to reduce the burden of work-related asthma.

4. Prevalence of Stroke — United States, 2006–2010

CDC
Division of News & Electronic Media           
(404) 639-3286

There are still large disparities of prevalence of stroke in the United States. Although stroke mortality in United States declined continuously, the prevalence of self-reported stroke declined marginally from 2.7 percent in 2006 to 2.6 percent in 2010.  However, the decline differed by age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, and state of residence.  In general, those of older age, American Indian/Native Alaska, with lower level of education, and residents of Southern states had higher stroke prevalence.

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES