Cigarette smoking - United States, 2006-2008 and 2009-2010

Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States, resulting in approximately 443,000 deaths and $193 billion in direct health-care expenditures and productivity losses each year. Declines in smoking prevalence would significantly impact the health-care and economic costs of smoking. Efforts to accelerate the decline in cigarette smoking include reducing cigarette smoking disparities among specific population groups. Findings from the previous report on cigarette use in the first CDC Health Disparities and Inequalities Report (CHDIR) indicated that progress has been achieved in reducing disparities in cigarette smoking among certain racial/ethnic groups. However, little progress has been made in reducing disparities in cigarette smoking among persons of low socioeconomic status (SES) and low educational attainment.