Office on Smoking and Health
Brief Overview
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), through its Office on Smoking and Health (OSH), is the
lead federal agency for comprehensive tobacco prevention and control. OSH
is a division within the National
Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, which is located within
CDC’s
Coordinating Center for Health Promotion.
Originally established in 1964 as the National Clearinghouse on Tobacco,
OSH is dedicated to reducing the
death and disease caused by tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke.
Our Vision
A world free from tobacco-related death and disease
Our Mission
To develop, conduct, and support strategic efforts to protect the
public’s health from the harmful effects of tobacco use
Our Goals
- Prevent tobacco use among youth and young adults
- Promote tobacco use cessation among adults and youth
- Eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke
- Identify and eliminate tobacco-related health disparities
Partnerships and Actions
To accomplish our goals, we work in partnership with local, state, national, and international leaders to—
- Expand the science base of effective tobacco control
- Build sustainable capacity and infrastructure for comprehensive tobacco control programs
- Communicate timely, relevant information to constituents, policy makers, and the public
- Coordinate policy, partnerships, and other strategic initiatives to support tobacco control priorities
- Foster global tobacco control through surveillance, capacity building, and information exchange
National Tobacco Control Program
To achieve our mission, we fund health departments in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and seven U.S. territories for
comprehensive tobacco prevention and control. Funded programs focus on tobacco use prevention, cessation, smoke-free
environments, and tobacco-related disparities. To achieve impact, we work collaboratively with state and
national partners and networks in providing strategic leadership, a solid science base, and technical assistance to
advance evidence-based interventions at the state and local levels.
Global Efforts
To address the worldwide epidemic of disease and death caused by tobacco, we work with international partners to
expand the global science base through surveillance and research; build capacity for data collection, analysis
and reporting; and assist with linking surveillance data to tobacco control efforts.
Page last updated 02/28/2007
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