Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health and the American Legacy Foundation have estimated
that Truth, the nation's largest youth smoking-prevention
campaign, saved $1.9 billion or more in health care costs
associated with tobacco use. The results are published in
the February online issue of the American Journal of
Preventive Medicine.
"The cost effectiveness of the Truth campaign has major
tobacco policy implications," said lead author David
Holtgrave, director of the Bloomberg School's Institute for Global
Tobacco Control and chair of the Department of Health,
Behavior and Society. "The campaign was previously
shown to lead to far fewer youth initiating smoking. In the
current paper, we now estimate that the campaign will avert
future health care costs of roughly $1.9 billion and
perhaps more, because youth who avoid smoking will avoid
the negative health consequences of smoking. Even under our
most pessimistic analysis, the cost per quality adjusted
life year saved by the campaign is substantially below the
cost of other major prevention interventions, and therefore
its expansion would be an excellent public health
investment."
Using standard methods of cost and cost-utility analysis,
Holtgrave and colleagues compared the costs of the Truth
campaign to the absence of the campaign. The American
Legacy Foundation spent $324 million to implement and
evaluate the Truth campaign. Comparing its cost to health
care savings, the authors found that base, optimistic and
even the most pessimistic case results indicate savings
over and above the initial costs.
Launched in 2000 by the American Legacy Foundation, the
Truth campaign aims to capitalize on the desire of young
people between the ages of 12 and 17 to be rebellious and
independent.
"Studies like this further validate the evolving approach
to youth public education we have applied since the
campaign first launched in 2000," said co-author Cheryl G.
Healton, president and CEO of the American Legacy
Foundation. "It is indeed gratifying to know that a growing
body of research continues to prove that, even over time,
the campaign remains remarkably relevant to teens' lives
and effective in promoting healthy, educated choices when
it comes to tobacco use."
The study was written by Holtgrave, Katherine A. Wunderink,
Donna M. Vallone and Healton. The research was supported by
the American Legacy Foundation.