On Thursday, November 16, 2023, our nation celebrated the American Cancer Society’s “Great American Smokeout”.  On this day, thousands of smokers are encouraged by their health providers, family, and friends to take their first steps towards living healthier, smoke-free lives.

Why should we, as health providers, pay more attention to whether our patients smoke or not?

While it is true that fewer people are now smoking cigarettes than ever before, smoking remains one of the most important public health issues of our time. Tobacco smoking is still by far the leading preventable cause of death, disease, and health care costs in our society, and it is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths (including from exposure to secondhand smoke) in the U.S. each year. In fact, many more people died nationwide from tobacco-related illnesses in the past two years alone than from COVID-19 and opioid overdose together. In addition, for each person who dies from a smoking-related disease, there are 30 others who are suffering from the health consequences of smoking.

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