Innovations in healthcare delivery: improving public health with advertising.

AuthorOrr, Vanessa
PositionHEALTH & MEDICINE

When it comes to public health, changing peoples opinions--and behaviors--isn't always easy to do. How do you convince someone to quit smoking or to never start? How do you provide them with the knowledge and the means to live a healthier life?

The State of Alaska Tobacco Prevention and Control Program has found a way. Over the past 10 years, cigarette sales have declined by more than 50 percent; adult smoking prevalence has decreased by 25 percent and high school students' smoking prevalence has dropped by more than 60 percent over the same time period. As a result, Alaska has saved almost $400 million in health care costs and prevented 8,900 premature deaths.

But the battle is not yet over. Working in conjunction with Anchorage-based advertising agency Northwest Strategies, the TPC is continuing to reach out to high-risk groups while countering the effects of pro-tobacco advertising.

The Problem

Tobacco use costs Alaska $579 million annually in direct medical costs and lost productivity due to tobacco-related deaths. Each year, 31 million packs of cigarettes are sold in the state; for every $9 pack of cigarettes purchased, it costs Alaskans an additional $19 per pack in costs associated with smoking.

"The Tobacco Prevention and Control Program has done a lot of incredible work over the last 10 years in combating smoking prevalence in Alaska adults, but we are still working to move the needle in other groups," explains Tiffany Tutiakoff, president, Northwest Strategies. "There are several disparate populations that we're addressing that range across a variety of tobacco use. This includes rural and Alaska Natives who have a high prevalence of chewing tobacco use and youth ages 18 to 25, who have flat-lined in prevalence. There is concern that those numbers are not going down."

The TPC's comprehensive tobacco prevention and control program, which is based on best practices and strategies identified by the Centers for Disease Control, is based on four goals: to prevent youth from starting tobacco use; to promote cessation of tobacco use among youth and adults; to protect the public from exposure to secondhand smoke; and to identify and eliminate tobacco-related disparities and achieve health equity. One of the ways in which the TPC does this is by creating marketing campaigns to educate the public and to counter the epic amounts of money being spent by the tobacco industry pushing its products.

"Tobacco companies spend more than $1 million...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT