CDC’s 2012 Anti-Smoking Campaign Cost Just $480 per Quitter
CDC's 2012 anti-smoking campaign cost just $480 per smoker who quit, according to a CDC analysis published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, the Washington Post's "To Your Health" reports.
CDC from March 2012 through June 2012 ran graphic television advertisements featuring appeals from former smokers who shared how their smoking had led to cancer, heart diseases and other medical complications, such as limb amputation. An earlier study found the campaign influenced more than one million smokers to attempt quitting. The campaign cost $48 million, with funding coming from the Affordable Care Act.
According to the analysis, the campaign cost $393 per year of life gained.
Saul Shiffman, a University of Pittsburgh professor who has studied smoking habits, said that is significantly better than the $50,000 per year of life gained that generally is considered cost effective. Shiffman also said medical interventions for long-term smoking complications, such as heart and lung surgery, are considerably more costly than the campaign's cost per smoker (Bernstein, "To Your Health," Washington Post, 12/10).
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