KHI News Service

A new report from the surgeon general finds that smoking causes even more physical and financial damage than previously estimated.

Among the highlights in the report, which was released 50 years after the first report tied cigarettes to lung cancer:

Cigarettes play a part in causing 10 more diseases than previously thought, including diabetes, liver cancer and colorectal cancer, bringing the total to more than 30.
480,000 Americans die each year from these disease — up from the previous estimate of 443,000.
Smoking leads to $289 billion in medical bills and lost productivity — nearly $100 billion more than previously reported. This includes as much as $176 billion for direct medical care of adults, $151 billion for lost productivity due to premature death and $5.6 billion for lost productivity due to exposure to secondhand smoke.
Today’s cigarette smokers face a much higher risk of lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than smokers did 50 years ago, despite smoking fewer cigarettes. The report points to changes in the design and composition of cigarettes as the only reasonable explanation for the increased risk of lung cancer.
Without action to reduce smoking, 5.6 million children under age 18 alive today will die prematurely from smoking-caused disease.
“The battle is not over,” said acting Surgeon General Boris Lushniak. “The problem isn’t solved. We still have 18 percent of our adult population smoking. And 5.6 million kids who are alive today will die early unless we take immediate action.”

Kansas advocates for tobacco control echoed Lushniak’s call to action.

“We must not think that tobacco use is a problem of the past,” said Jeff Willett, Vice President of Programs at the Kansas Health Foundation, the parent organization of the KHI News Service.

“Tobacco kills more Kansans than illegal drugs, homicide, suicide, car crashes and AIDS combined. Treating diseases caused by smoking is one reason our Medicaid and other health care costs are out of control. Reducing smoking will save lives and money in Kansas. Kansans need to support efforts that prevent kids from starting and help adult smokers who want to quit,” he said.

In a joint media release, the Kansas Health Foundation, Tobacco Free Kansas, the American Lung Association in Kansas, the American Heart Association and the Cancer Action Network said the state needs to do more to reduce tobacco use, noting that 1 of every 7 deaths in the state in 2012 was caused by smoking.

The Wichita-based health foundation recently launchedan initiative aimed at reducing smoking among Kansans with mental illness. It is recruiting 25 people from across the state to participate in its 2014 fellows program, which will be devoted to devising a specific plan to address the problem.

Persons with serious mental illness on average die 25 years earlier than people in the general population due primarily to smoking- and obesity-related diseases, Willett said.

“This population is rapidly becoming the last frontier (in the effort to reduce smoking),” he said. “In Kansas, roughly one-third of all cigarettes smoked are smoked by people with mental illness.”

U.S. Census data showing where smokers are concentrated in Kansas
County	Adult Smokers	% of Adults Who Smoke
Sedgwick	84,835	23.0%
Johnson	64,898	15.6%
Shawnee	32,298	23.9%
Wyandotte	28,484	30.9%
Douglas	17,709	19.3%
Leavenworth	15,615	26.5%
Riley	13,033	21.1%
Reno	12,488	25.3%
Butler	10,556	21.7%
Saline	10,512	25.0%