“Eliminating tobacco use is the most important thing we can do to prevent lung and other cancers, as well as the many other diseases its use causes. Today’s news confirms that we are making progress. However, the global health challenges from tobacco are still growing.
“This new CDC report shows how far we’ve come in the U.S. as we approach the 50th anniversaries of both the Surgeon General’s first report on tobacco and ASCO’s founding. Having shown that we can make substantial progress, we must continue to do everything possible to expand tobacco control programs in the United States and especially overseas, where tobacco use is taking an even greater toll.
“ASCO believes it is our responsibility as cancer doctors to help our patients quit and oppose tobacco use in all its forms. We are deeply committed to proactive tobacco control globally and have set an aggressive agenda for slashing tobacco use, deploying every public health, policy, and legal approach available.”
—Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP