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• PHILANTHROPY: IT’S ALL
HAWAI‘I TOBACCO PREVENTION AND CONTROL TRUST FUND: Saving Lives While Reducing Costs
For the past 16 years, the Hawai‘i Tobacco Prevention and Control Trust Fund has helped to reduse disease and death in the state. The Trust Fund, which is managed by the Hawai‘i Community Foundation under a contract with the Department of Health, utilizes a portion of Hawai‘i’s share of the 1999 multi-state class action settlement with the tobacco industry. A multifaceted, statewide approach to tobacco control includes the Hawai‘i Tobacco Quitline (1-800-QUIT-NOW), community grants for smoking cessation and youth prevention on all islands, and public education and advocacy to reduce the harmful impacts of smoking for Hawai‘i’s people. Hawai‘i’s community investments are yielding impressive results: • High school smoking rates decreased 66% from 1993 to 2015. • Adult smoking rates decreased 28% from 2000 to 2014. • Reduction in tobacco-related deaths due to heart disease (34%), stroke (44%), and lung cancer (10%). • Hawai‘i’s overall 14.1% smoking rate is one of the lowest in the nation.
“Our partnership to save lives from tobaccorelated diseases is dwarfed by the tobacco industry’s relentless spending to increase the use of nicotine everywhere.” – Tom Matsuda, HCF Program Director
However, many serious challenges remain: • people die each year in Hawai‘i due to cigarette smoking. • 143,000 Hawai‘i adults currently smoke cigarettes, costing the state $526 million in medical costs annually. • In a 2015 survey, 26.3% of middle school and 45.1% of high school students said they had ever used an e-cigarette. This is a 640% increase in middle school and a 440% increase in high school compared to 2011 rates. The Trust Fund supported the grassroots community advocacy that led to passage of the new Age 21 law last year, positioning Hawai‘i as the first state in the nation to prohibit the sale and possession of cigarettes and e-cigarettes by anyone under age 21. HCF is proud to work with the Department of Health, the Legislature, and many community partners statewide to achieve more results like these in the future.
Did You Know ... With support and leadership from the Legislature, this public/private partnership has helped to save lives and create Hawai‘i’s smoke-free workplaces law, increase taxes on tobacco products and address second-hand smoke.
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