I am pleased to have the opportunity to present my company’s efforts to address the problem of smoking among young people, and to share with you what can be accomplished through a collaborative effort between public and private sector agencies and organisations. National statistics are beyond what we might call alarming. Approximately 25% of American adults smoke. We spend $50 billion each year on healthcare costs that are associated with smoking-related illness. Many of the advertising campaigns of the tobacco companies have been targeting our children and, unfortunately, many of our children have responded. Smoking among young people is a very significant health hazard which, if unchecked, promises future physical, emotional, and financial misery. As President Clinton said, “Tomorrow, 3000 children will start smoking and 1000 will die as a result.” We know that we must address this major health problem head on—we know that treatment is not the only answer—prevention is clearly the key.

Before I tell you about the coalition in southern Nevada, I should like to give you just a brief “snapshot” of our company and our community. Sierra Health Services, Inc., which is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, consists of 19 subsidiary companies. We are publicly traded and licensed to do business in 44 states and the District of Columbia. We are the largest provider of health care and health insurance in the state of Nevada. Our health maintenance organisation (HMO), Health Plan of Nevada (HPN), is the largest HMO in Nevada with 160 000 members. Most of our members live in southern Nevada.

Southern Nevada has approximately 1.2 million residents out of Nevada’s approximately two million residents. We have a robust economy with a core industry of tourism, but we are rapidly diversifying our economic base. With approximately 5000 new residents moving into southern Nevada each …