Smoking Kills 400,000 Annually

CDC says nationwide anti-smoking effort could prevent 400,000 deaths annually.
CNN (4/23, Curley) reports, "A coordinated national anti-smoking effort could reduce the more than 400,000 annual tobacco-related deaths in the United States, federal health officials said Thursday." Notably, a new CDC analysis "offers a snapshot of each state's tobacco control progress, including wider adoption of measures to control, prevent and stop smoking. The key, the report says, is having all the states adopt uniform tobacco control plans." Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC, says, "From the numbers, it's the leading preventable cause of death. ... As a doctor I have cared for people with cancer, with chronic lung disease, people who have to gasp for every breath, and I know that behind those numbers are people and lives." The agency "estimates that 46 million American adults smoke cigarettes, and smoking causes approximately 443,000 deaths each year."
The Dallas Morning News (4/23, Garrett) "Trailblazers" blog reports that "in Texas, where nearly 3.3. million people smoke," the effort would entail "passing a statewide smoke-free law, and using more cigarette tax revenue to run anti-tobacco TV ads."
Vaccine that could help people stop smoking shows promise in clinical trials. CNN (4/23, Willingham) reports that "a vaccine designed to stimulate the immune system to generate antibodies that would latch on to nicotine in a smoker's body and prevent it from ever entering the brain" has been "showing promise in early clinical trials, researchers announced this week at a national meeting of addiction specialists." Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, said, "Finding effective treatments that can help people stay off cigarettes has been a real challenge." Dr. Collins added, "This phase III trial of a nicotine vaccine offers tremendous hope towards solving this immense public health problem."