CVS pledges $50 million to create generation without tobacco use

March 10, 2016 1:41 pm

By: Elisha Kay Aldrich

CVS has announced a $50 million program to help children stay away from tobacco. The Be The First initiative is funded through CVS Health and the CVS Health Foundation, and will use “comprehensive education, advocacy, tobacco control and healthy behavior programming” to tackle the issue of youth smoking.

The company has enlisted the help of leading anti-tobacco and youth organizations to support programs that address different areas of what CVS calls the “tobacco epidemic.” Such programs include expanded tobacco education with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and Scholastic, Inc., and new advocacy initiatives in partnership with the American Cancer Society to continue the decline of smoking rates in teens.

Be The First is primarily directed at youth who use tobacco and who are at risk of becoming regular tobacco users. There are also initiatives designed to educate elementary school children who may become users without early tobacco education. Focus is also placed on community-based cessation programs for adult smokers that expose children to tobacco use.

“We are at a critical moment in our nation’s efforts to end the epidemic of tobacco use that continues to kill more people than any other preventable cause of death, and threatens the health and well-being of our next generation,” Troyen A. Brennan, the Chief Medical Officer of CVS Health said. “Ensuring our youth stay tobacco-free requires increased education and awareness of healthy behaviors.”

To guide this new initiative, CVS Health is creating a national advisory group comprised of “thought leaders” that will advise on trends, initiatives and strategies to reach the company’s goal of creating a tobacco free generation. This group has lofty goals, which include a 3 percent decline in the national youth smoking rate, a 10 percent decline in the number of new youth smokers and doubling the number of tobacco free college and university campuses.

CVS will also be launching a social media campaign with #BeTheFirst, which will have a number of videos, photos, graphics and digital tools, aimed at expressing how kids can “be the first” generation to live life without tobacco. The campaign comes from research that suggests exposure to tobacco in social media predicts future tobacco habits.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 3,800 children under the age of 18 smoke their first cigarette each day, and another 2,100 youth and young adults become daily smokers.