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The Tobacco Control Vaccine: a population-based framework for preventing tobacco-related disease and death
  1. Brian A King,
  2. Corinne Graffunder
  1. Office on Smoking and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Brian A King, Office on Smoking and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30341, USA; baking{at}cdc.gov

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Vaccines serve a critical role in the prevention and control of communicable diseases.1 Vaccines have prevented countless cases and saved millions of lives globally from diseases such as polio, smallpox, measles, diphtheria, influenza and multiple others.1 Given the critical importance and past impact of population-based prevention interventions in combating the tobacco epidemic,2 3 we describe a population-based model for reducing tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure using the public health principles of vaccination.

The Tobacco Control Vaccine is comprised of proven population-based preventive measures to reduce tobacco use and tobacco-related morbidity and mortality (figure 1). It is founded on existing evidence-based frameworks,3 4 such as MPOWER,4 and is intended to serve as a public health messaging complement to these frameworks to enhance understanding and implementation of proven interventions. In addition to the components of the vaccine (content), its ultimate impact on public health is contingent on robust population-level protection (coverage) and the extent to which these components are supported and advanced by key stakeholders (community).

Figure 1

The Tobacco Control Vaccine.

Content

The four evidence-based components of the Tobacco Control Vaccine include: (1) tobacco price increases; (2) smoke-free policies; (3) hard hitting media campaigns and (4) cessation access.

Tobacco price increases

Sizeably increasing the price of tobacco products is the single most effective intervention …

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Footnotes

  • Contributors Both authors have made substantial contributions to the creation of the manuscript, including conceptualisation, writing and revision, and take full responsibility for its contents.

  • Disclaimer The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

  • Competing interests None declared.

  • Provenance and peer review Commissioned; internally peer reviewed.

  • Data sharing statement This commentary does not include primary data.