A State-by-State Look at the 1998 State of Tobacco Settlement 17 Years Later
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids released a report looking at if states are keeping their promise to use a significant portion of their settlement funds to attach the enormous public health problems caused by tobacco use in the United States. The report found that Wisconsin ranks 30th in the country in funding programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit. Tobacco companies spend $157.3 million annually to market their products in Wisconsin. That means tobacco companies spend $30 to market their products for every $1 Wisconsin spends on tobacco prevention.
America’s Health Rankings 2015 – WI Ranks 24th
Wisconsin ranks 24th on health when compared with other states, according to United Health Foundation’s annual America’s Health Rankings.The state is strong in several areas, including having a high number of high school graduates, a low percentage of people without health insurance and high immunization rates among adolescents. The number of preventable hospitalizations has also decreased 20 percent in the past five years from 60.0 to 47.9 per 1,000 Medicare beneficiaries. Wisconsin weaknesses include a high prevalence of excessive drinking, low per-capita public health funding and a high prevalence of obesity.
Youth Cigarette Smoking Continues to Decline, While E-Cigarettes Increases
According to the National Survey, “Monitoring the Future Survey”, the number of youth smoking conventional cigarettes continues to drop, but youth are using e-cigarettes more than conventional cigarettes. In all three grades, the percentage of students who report smoking cigarettes 30 days prior feel from 8% (2014) to 7%(2015). E-cigarette use far exceed regular cigarette use in the past 30 days for all grades, 9.5% to 3.6% among 8th grades, 14% to 6.3% among 10th graders and 16.2% to 11.4% among 12th graders. For more information, visit www.monitoringthefuture.org.
One-Third of Incurable Cancer Patients Continue to Work
More than one-third of people with incurable cancer continue to work despite their fatal illness, a new study reports. The severity of a cancer patient’s symptoms is the most important factor in whether he or she will stop working, researchers reported December 21, 2015 in the journal Cancer. “The factor that associated most strongly with no longer working was a high symptom burden,” said lead researcher Dr. Amye Tevaarwerk, an oncologist with the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. “It wasn’t any of these other things, like where your cancer is located or your gender or the treatment you are receiving.” The study’s abstract can be found here.