7.11.3: Public Health Response
Public health efforts to reduce smoking may have had the most significant effect on cancer rates in the past decade. Between 2005 and 2021 smoking rates decreased from 20.9% to 11.9% of adults (CDC, 2023c). In 2012, the CDC launched the first federally funded anti-smoking campaign called Tips from Former Smokers (Tips) , which included stories from people suffering the effects of smoking-related diseases. Between 2012 and 2018, over 16 million people reported attempting to quit, and 1 million people did so successfully due to exposure to Tips messaging. It is estimated that this campaign helped prevent 129,000 early deaths (CDCTobaccoFree, 2024). The Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) is a division of the CDC which supports national and statewide tobacco use prevention through surveillance and promoting tobacco control programs and policies. And smoke-free policies have been demonstrated to have positive health outcomes - even acutely. In a county in Colorado, a smoke-free policy in 2006 was associated with a 23% drop in ambulance calls (CDC, 2021b). Perhaps one day, tobacco sales may be banned altogether. A recent bill in the U.K. was proposed to phase out smoking in the next generation. Smoking itself would not be criminalized, but the sale of tobacco products would be banned to anyone born after 2009. Similar legislation in New Zealand was just repealed in early 2024, so laws like this may face staunch resistance - at least initially (Reuters, 2024).
Other public health efforts have focused on increasing screening rates and vaccine uptake. Mailing self-collection sample kits for colon or cervical cancers, and using online resources like educational videos and telemedicine has been shown to increase screening rates for some of the most common cancers (American Association for Cancer Research, 2023). The HPV vaccine can prevent 80-90% of infections that cause cervical cancer, and many other cancers as well (National Cancer Institute, 2021). In 2021, 58% of 13-15 year olds had received the vaccine series (up from 48% in 20180), and the Healthy People initiative has set a target of 80% by 2030 (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.). Some public health programs are working with pediatrician networks in order to increase doctor education, help overcome parent hesitancy, and use technology to remind both doctors and patients of the importance of HPV vaccines (Vernon et al., 2020).