Tobacco use is related to about 80% to 90% of all lung cancers. Tobacco use accounts for up to 30% of all cancer-related deaths and 20% of all deaths in the United States. MD Anderson is committed to ending tobacco use, motivated in large part by the daily suffering of our patients and their families.
The EndTobacco® Program calls for an unprecedented and sustained institutional commitment to leadership, investment and collaboration to advance evidence-based tobacco control as a core element of our mission. We are targeting the tobacco epidemic through EndTobacco, with three major goals:
- Prevent initiation and reduce current use of tobacco products among youth
- Reduce exposure to secondhand smoke
- Increase access to and promote evidence-based interventions in tobacco treatment
Under the banner of EndTobacco, MD Anderson:
- Targets public health actions which reduce tobacco related cancers
- Collaborates with leading organizations committed to ending tobacco as a public health priority
- Shares our multi-disciplinary expertise and our experience as researchers and practitioners
- Educates the public and health care professionals
- Extends research to make a measurable difference at a population level
- Accelerates translation of research findings to the real world
- Shares findings from our research, evidence-based programs and experiences
The EndTobacco® Program
Supported by commitments from MD Anderson in 2012, EndTobacco developed and implemented evidence-based actions for tobacco control tailored to the center’s mission, values, expertise, resources, and partnerships. As a result, EndTobacco has supported, educated, and convened local and state coalitions in policymaking; provided tobacco treatment education to health professionals; implemented Texas’ only certified tobacco treatment training program; and led an initiative to enhance the tobacco-free culture of the state’s publicly funded university system. By 2021, the adult smoking rate in Texas dropped from 19.2% (2014) to 13.2%. Contributors to this decrease include state tobacco control policies, programs and services from multiple agencies and associations, and EndTobacco activities that complement the statewide effort to prevent youth smoking initiation and increase quit attempts among youth and adults.
Read more about the EndTobacco Program: A Comprehensive Program to Reduce Tobacco-related Cancers Through Actions by a National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center in the article in the Journal of Cancer Control.
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Core Programs
- Smoke-Free Environments: Workplaces, multi-unit housing
- Tobacco-Free Environments: Institutions of Higher Education
- Reducing Youth Access Policies: Tobacco21, Flavored tobacco products
- Tobacco-Free Hiring
- Tobacco Retail Environment
- Certified Tobacco Treatment Training Program: Training for providers and public health professionals
- Project TEACH ECHO: Learning community for providers and public health professionals
- This is Quitting: The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is proud to partner with the Truth Initiative to offer This is Quitting (TIQ) for free to any youth or young adult serving agency. Texas youth and young adults ages 13-24 who use e-cigarettes or vape can get free confidential help to quit, by texting VAPEFREETX to 88709. Any entitiy can contact us to receive free promotional materials or social media materials for the TIQ program.
- Youth Cessation Programs and Interventions: MD Anderson alongside 20 public health, medical and government organizations created a national repository of tools and resources for those seeking to help youth quit tobacco use. Through this webpage, parents, educators, healthcare professionals and others who work with young people can find the latest information, resources, and programs created specifically for youth tobacco cessation.
- ASPIRE: Middle and High School Online Education Program
- Catch My Breath: Evidence-based E-Cigarette Prevention Program for grades 5-12
Comprehensive
- Eliminate Tobacco Use Initiative: Most people who smoke, started before age 21. For young adults, the college environment is a time of growth and experimentation. It's also an opportunity to shift social norms around smoking, vaping and tobacco use. Through the Eliminate Tobacco Use Initiative, we are working to tackle tobacco use by assisting institutions to create tobacco-free cultures through dedicated efforts across a range of domains - policy, education and cessation service delivery. The collaborative began in 2016 within the University of Texas System and included other Texas institutions and organizations. In 2018, the Eliminate Tobacco Use Initiative expanded nationally, including partners in Missouri, New Jersey, and Virginia. Find out more about the Eliminate Tobacco Use resources, such as social medial toolkits, quarterly webinars and annual summits here.
- Tobacco Cessation Clinic Enhancement Program (TCCEP): The Tobacco Cessation Clinic Enhancement Program (TCCEP) is a new comprehensive system change initiative for clinics by providing training and resources as support to clinicians and staff to help improve tobacco treatment services for their patients. The comprehensive actions in this program will include tobacco-free campus policy adoption and/or compliance efforts, prevention actions, and training employees and providers in tobacco treatment best practices.
Tobacco Facts
80+
Texas cities that prohibit smoking in public places
88%
adult smokers in the U.S. begin smoking before age 18
41K
deaths per year in the U.S. from secondhand smoke
Tobacco Treatment Training
MD Anderson’s Certified Tobacco Treatment Training Program (CTTTP) is the only accredited program in Texas, and one of only 15 in the nation.
More about CTTTPProgram helps at-risk group beat nicotine addiction
Through Project TEACH, MD Anderson experts are helping people with mental health conditions quit smoking.