The recent announcement by CVS Caremark that the retailer will stop selling tobacco products at its more than 7,600 locations made waves in the public health community. Health advocates lauded the national pharmacy retailer for its commitment to health while calling on other health-related stores to follow its example.
The drugstore chain’s change in policy, which will take effect in October, was made because selling tobacco conflicts with the retailer’s purpose of “helping people on their path to better health,” according to a February statement from CVS Caremark.
But as the countdown to October begins, questions remain as to how influential the CVS Caremark decision will be in the fight against tobacco, whether it will change behaviors and if other retailers will follow suit.
A CVS store in San Francisco. The drugstore chain has decided to stop selling tobacco in its stores, spurring other calls for change.
Photo by Justin Sullivan, courtesy Getty Images
Tobacco use remains a leading cause of disease and death in the U.S. More than 480,000 people die annually from cigarette smoking, which includes 42,000 deaths from secondhand smoke, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Some retailers, such as Target and the grocery chain Wegmans, responded to the issue before CVS Caremark, banning tobacco sales in 1996 and 2008, respectively. But what makes CVS Caremark unique is that it is in the business of health, said John Seffrin, PhD, CEO of the American Cancer Society. To have one of the largest pharmacy retailers in the U.S. realize that selling tobacco runs counter to its mission will have an impact on similar chains, Seffrin said.
While there are plenty of other places people can buy tobacco products, the CVS Caremark decision is expected to have an impact. Combined with Food and Drug Administration regulations, the placement of tobacco behind store counters and education campaigns, recent measures are making it less convenient to buy the products, Seffrin said.
“Quite frankly, some might say, ‘Well this is last week’s story,’” Seffrin told The Nation’s Health. “On the contrary, come October, now they’re walking the talk. Instead of a pharmacist saying, ‘By the way, tobacco is lethal as intended,’ that becomes a more powerful education message than just warning labels and rhetoric.”
On the heels of the CVS Caremark decision, APHA launched a petition that calls on stores with clinics and pharmacies to follow the retailer’s lead. Online at bit.ly/PetitionAPHA, the petition notes that tobacco kills more people than AIDS, alcohol, car crashes, homicides, illegal drug use and suicides combined. As of early March, the petition had more than 4,000 signatures. APHA members are encouraged to sign and share the petition, which will be open through National Public Health Week, April 7-13.
“We commend CVS for its commitment to public health,” said Susan Polan, PhD, APHA’s associate executive director for public affairs and advocacy. “Now is the time to amplify our voice and let retailers know what we want.”
Congressional leaders are hoping for a trickle-down effect to other pharmacy retailers. Following CVS Caremark’s announcement, eight U.S. senators on Feb. 10 sent letters to the CEOs of Rite Aid, Walgreens and the National Association of Chain Drugstores, urging them to make the same move. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, was the lead on the letter, which asked stores to ban tobacco sales and bolster existing federal initiatives to reduce use of a product that leads to $289 billion in annual health-related costs.
Tobacco prevention campaigns ramp up
Federal agencies are also working to keep tobacco use prevention on Americans’ minds.
On Feb. 11, FDA launched The Real Cost anti-tobacco campaign. The print, TV, radio and Web ad campaign targets youth ages 12-17 with anti-tobacco messages. The goal is to reach 9 million youths and reduce the number of youth smokers by 300,000 over three years. The ad campaign is FDA’s first since the agency gained the authority to regulate tobacco products in 2009.
According to CDC, 14 percent of high school students and 3.5 percent of middle school students used cigarettes in 2012. About 5.6 million Americans younger than 18 who smoke could die from a smoking-related illness if the youth smoking rate stays the same.
“We focused in on health consequences that are important to youth — their appearance and appeal is very important,” said Kathy Crosby, director of the Office of Health Communication and Education at FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products. “Some of the ads focused on their skin, their teeth and their mouth. Those are unusual health consequences to focus on, but ones we know in the research are important to teens and to debunk the myth they won’t get addicted and can quit at any time.”
Science shows that media campaigns are highly effective in both preventing smoking among kids and encouraging smokers to quit, said Vince Willmore, vice president of communications for the Campaign For Tobacco-Free Kids.
“The FDA has followed the science to the letter in developing this campaign,” Willmore told The Nation’s Health. “They’ve done extensive research in media cost-effective strategies in reaching youth. We’re very excited about this campaign and think it will be effective in reducing smoking.”
The FDA ads, which will air in 200 markets over a year, will complement CDC’s Tips From Former Smokers campaign, which has launched a new set of advertisements this year. The campaign, featuring people suffering from tobacco-related chronic diseases and cancer, has resulted in at least 1.6 million quit attempts since its launch in March 2012, according to CDC.
Media campaigns are one of many strategies outlined in CDC’s “Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs 2014,” a new version of which was released in February. The guide provides science-based measures for states to use in their tobacco control programs, which are funded in part by the 1998 multi-state tobacco settlement. Successful control programs include elements such as state and community interventions and surveillance, according to CDC.
But not all states are using the settlement funding to their advantage. In the past 15 years, states have only used 2.3 percent of the revenues for tobacco control programs, according to “Broken Promises to Our Children: The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 15 Years Later,” a report released in December by a coalition of health groups. Of the $25 billion states will receive this year via tobacco revenues, only 1.9 percent will go toward control programs.
Willmore said the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids will be working to educate states about the importance of comprehensive smoke-free laws, higher tobacco taxes and optimal use of tobacco funds.
The campaign will also will be working with public health partners to convince other retailers to ban tobacco. On Feb. 26, the campaign joined APHA and two dozen other groups to publicly call on U.S. retailers — especially those with pharmacies — to follow CVS Caremark’s lead.
To read the statement from CVS Caremark, visit http://info.cvscaremark.com/cvs-insights/cvs-quits. Sign APHA’s petition at bit.ly/PetitionAPHA.
- Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association
