Tobacco. The leading cause of death

More than 400,000 persons die in the United States each year from tobacco-related causes; over 28,000 are Floridians. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, State Health Office, and Florida Department of Education have developed sophisticated systems for measuring prevalence of tobacco use in the general population and selected subgroups and for estimating smoking-attributable mortality, morbidity and economic cost. They are: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Morbidity and Economic Cost, Youth Risk Behavior Survey, and Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System. Each system is described, including selected national and state data which help identify patients at risk and provide education and smoking cessation services.