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WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Health announced plans to provide $10 million in support of programs to dissuade youths from smoking as the company kicked off year three of its “Be The First” campaign to help deliver the nation’s first tobacco-free generation.
“After just two years, we’re encouraged by our contributions to a continuing decline in youth smoking rates,” Dr. Troy Brennan, chief medical officer of CVS Health, said in a statement. “However, far too many young people are still using a variety of harmful tobacco and nicotine products — such as e-cigarettes and vapes — that facilitate initiation of tobacco use.
“By reducing the number of people that are exposed to tobacco, we can reduce the prevalence of tobacco-related diseases, including lung cancer, heart disease and stroke, and make a significant impact on the health of our next generation.”
CVS introduced Be The First in March 2016 with a pledge of $50 million over five years, funded through the company and the CVS Health Foundation.
The campaign comprises comprehensive education, advocacy, tobacco control and healthy behavior programming in partnership with organizations addressing this public health challenge.
Be The First is directed at youth and young adults who use tobacco or who are at risk of becoming regular tobacco users, as well as the country’s elementary school children who, without early tobacco education, might become tobacco users, the company said.
The program also offers support to community-based smoking cessation programs for adults.
By funding programs with leading tobacco control advocates — including the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, CATCH Global Foundation and Truth Initiative — CVS has helped reach 4 million youths with antismoking education and healthy behavior programming, the company said. CVS also is helping 146 colleges and universities advocate for, adopt and implement tobacco-free campus policies.
Among the new investments that are being delivered in 2018 are a $1.4 million grant to the play2PREVENT Lab at the Yale Center for Health and Learning Games and a $500,000 grant to the Stanford University School of Medicine to help enhance and scale current pilot programs, including the Stanford Tobacco Prevention Toolkit.
CVS said it expects its investments in the Stanford Toolkit and Yale’s smokeSCREEN game app to reach more than 200,000 adolescents each year through schools and other youth-serving organizations.
CVS Health Foundation said it will build on partnerships with the Truth Initiative and the American Cancer Society to increase the number of tobacco-free college campuses, with grants available to help more than 70 additional colleges and universities advocate for, adopt and implement 100% smoke- and tobacco-free campus policies.
