The 2024 Surgeon General’s Report estimates that each year, more than 490,000 deaths are attributable to cigarette smoking and exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke in the United States.
“With one in five U.S. deaths attributable to tobacco and persistent disparities in tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke, this report underscores the tremendous impact of commercial tobacco in the U.S. and the disproportionate burden placed on some people and communities,” said Andrea Villanti, the deputy director of the Rutgers Institute for Nicotine & Tobacco Studies, professor in the Rutgers School of Public Health and a senior scientific editor on the report. “Our findings elevate tobacco-related health disparities as social justice issue – not just a health or economic issue.”
Key findings in the report highlight the persistence of disparities in tobacco use by race and ethnicity, level of income, level of education, gender identity, type of occupation, geography and behavioral health status. The report notes that addressing disparities requires reflection on the complex history of the commercialization of tobacco and both past and present-day experiences of racism, discrimination, and targeted marketing by the tobacco industry. To read the full story.