KANSAS CITY, Mo. — This week marks the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Surgeon General’s report on smoking. Before it was released in 1964, most Americans did not think that smoking caused cancer. By 1968, more than three in four thought it did.
A new study from Yale University found the Surgeon General’s report has prevented about eight million premature deaths in America. Those are people who would have died early from smoking if the country had followed the same path it was on prior to 1964. The study found tobacco control efforts have added about 20 years on average to eight million lives. The findings are in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association.
Four out of 10 Americans smoked in 1964. Currently, it is two out of 10 people. While cutting the rate in half is huge, the study’s authors said much more work is needed since smoking remains the leading contributor to the nation’s death toll. The current Surgeon General will release a new report on Thursday that will likely address that topic.
