Virginia spends 1.5 percent less on tobacco prevention
Virginia is spending about 1.5 percent less on tobacco-prevention programs in the current fiscal year, according to a report by a coalition of public-health groups.
And other states are cutting funding for the programs overall by more than 15 percent this year, pushing it farther than ever below federally recommended levels, the report said.
Virginia’s spending on the programs, including federal funding, is about $13.4 million, down from $13.6 million in 2009.
That spending represents more than 4 percent of the estimated $307 million in tobacco-generated revenue Virginia collects each year from tobacco-settlement payments and tobacco taxes, according to the report.
Virginia ranks No. 32 on tobacco-prevention spending, committing about 13 percent of the minimum amount recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“I am concerned that Virginia ranks so low,” said David DeBiasi, director of public advocacy for the American Lung Association of Virginia. “The impact of teen smoking on future health-care expenses, after they have developed cancer or emphysema, makes an investment in prevention not only a logical step but a necessary, fiscally sound decision.”
Under legislation passed by the Virginia General Assembly in 1999, the state puts 10 percent of its payments from the national tobacco settlement into youth-smoking prevention, but lawmakers have shifted some of that money in subsequent years to help balance the state budget.
Also, state legislators this year added childhood-obesity prevention to the mission of the foundation that oversees the smoking-prevention program, raising concerns among tobacco-control advocates that smoking-prevention programs will lose funding.
All states, including Virginia, should spend $567.5 million of their own money and $62 million in federal grants on programs to prevent tobacco use — about 17 percent of the $3.7 billion, the Centers for Disease Control recommends, the report says.
Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia trimmed funding for such programs this year. New York cut the most at $25.2 million, or 31 percent, the report said.
States will collect more than $25 billion in a combination of tobacco taxes and legal settlements from the tobacco industry this fiscal year. They will spend about 2.3 percent of that on programs to prevent or stop tobacco use, the report says.
Released by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and several other groups, the report says smoking-related health care costs $95.9 billion annually nationwide.
Tobacco companies agreed in 1998 to settle lawsuits several states brought over smoking-related health-care costs by paying them about $206 billion during a two-decade-plus period.
The largest U.S. tobacco company, Henrico County-based Altria Group Inc., parent company of Philip Morris USA, pays a majority of that amount. Altria spokesman David Sutton said states should use more of the settlement money for youth-smoking prevention and health-related initiatives.
December 10, 2009
