MedWire News: The number of people dying from heart disease in the USA would fall if more states introduced tobacco control programmes, say researchers.

Dr Zubair Kabir, from Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and colleagues analysed smoking rates and deaths due to heart disease in Massachusetts after the state introduced a tobacco control programme in 1993.

The programme included measures such as a significant state-wide rise in taxes on cigarettes to help fund anti-smoking media campaigns, and support anti-smoking education initiatives and cessation services, as well as a ban on smoking in the workplace and tobacco advertising restrictions.

The researchers found that between 1993 and 2003, the number of people dying from coronary heart disease in the state fell by 31%, from 199 deaths to 137 deaths per 100,000 people. The number of smokers between the ages of 25 and 85 years also fell by 29% during this time.

Based on these findings, the researchers calculated that the reduction in smoking rates over the 10-year period resulted in a significant decline in smoking-related deaths due to coronary heart disease.

“California was the first state to have a state-wide programme like the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Programme and they witnessed substantial declines [in heart disease death rates],” said Dr Kabir. “So it was not surprising that Massachusetts, the second state, would see such declines as well, which reflect the impact of a comprehensive, integrated and – at the time – well-funded programme.”

Writing in the American Journal of Public Health, the researchers conclude that expanding comprehensive tobacco control programmes to other states would significantly reduce deaths due to smoking-related diseases in the USA.

Audrey Ferguson, from the American Lung Association, echoed the researchers call for an expansion of such programmes. She said: “The American Lung Association strongly supports comprehensive state-wide tobacco control efforts, including increased tobacco taxes and smoke-free workplace legislation.

“We recognise that tobacco use does not affect just the lungs or the heart of the tobacco user. Everyone would see health benefits from a comprehensive tobacco control plan.”