The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), through its Office on Smoking and Health (OSH), plays a leading role in the nation’s fight to reduce tobacco use and the death and disease it causes. The CDC conducts national media campaigns to educate the public about the dangers of smoking, provides critical assistance to state tobacco prevention and cessation efforts, and conducts essential research, including regular surveys of youth and adult tobacco use in the United States.
The drastic cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services’ workforce and the elimination of CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) will have devastating consequences for the nation’s health. OSH plays a critical role in preventing youth tobacco use and helping adult tobacco users to quit.
Tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death in America. Weakening efforts to protect kids from tobacco and to help adults to quit will lead more youth to start using tobacco products, fewer people will quit and more people will become ill and die from tobacco use.
Eliminating funding for CDC OSH would:
- Eliminate the only dedicated source of federal funding for state tobacco control programs;
- Reduce services to help tobacco users quit;
- End an effective, cost-saving media campaign; and
- Weaken surveillance of youth tobacco use and the emergence of new threats.
Last updated April 11, 2025