The Hawaii State Department of Health's Tobacco Prevention and Education Program (TPEP) is the official state government program addressing tobacco control in Hawaii. It is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through the Comprehensive National Tobacco Control Program.
The purpose of the Tobacco Prevention and Education Program is to reduce tobacco consumption through a comprehensive multi-strategy approach that reflects prevention and education approaches, in order to reduce or eliminate the burden of disease and disability caused by its use. (A complete description of the TPEP goals and objectives is available in the Program Narrative). The program's activities are based on four overall goals:
- Prevent tobacco use initiation among youth
- Promote quitting among adults and youth
- Eliminate exposure to environmental tobacco smoke
- Identify and eliminate disparities among populations
Community planning supports the four goals of the Tobacco Prevention and Education Program (TPEP). These goals can be best achieved by increasing the number of organizations and individuals involved in planning and conducting community-level education and training programs; placing pro-health messages that inform, educate, and support local tobacco control initiatives and policies; promoting the adoption of public and private tobacco control policies; and measuring outcomes through surveillance and evaluation techniques.
To achieve the individual behavior change that supports the nonuse of tobacco, communities must change the way tobacco is promoted, sold, and used while changing the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of young people, tobacco users, and nonusers. Effective community programs involve people in their homes, work sites, schools, places of worship and entertainment, civic organizations, and other places. Read complete article.
Prevention of the onset of smoking during the school year is a major focus of the Tobacco Prevention and Control Program (TPEP). Most people who start smoking are younger than 18, and many begin tobacco use before high school. It is critical to provide tobacco prevention education to students in elementary through high school because impressions about tobacco use are formed and developed during this period.
TPEP blends its efforts to prevent youth initiation and promote youth cessation through school- based activities, community-based activities, services for teachers with the Department of Education, and tobacco-free policy promotion in the University of Hawai'i system. Read complete article.
Although secondhand smoke (SHS) is classified as a carcinogen that is known to cause cancer, not everyone is fully aware of the risks of exposure. This is particularly worrisome with respect to infants and children, who are at highest risk of SHS exposure in the environment that should be the safest for them – the home. Read complete article.
Programs that successfully assist smokers, regardless of age, in quitting can produce a quicker and probably greater short-term public health benefit than any other component of a comprehensive tobacco control program. Smokers who quit smoking before age 50 cut in half their risk of dying in the next 15 years. In addition, implementation of moderately-priced, effective smoking cessation interventions would more than pay for these interventions within 3 to 4 years through cost savings from reduced tobacco use. One smoker successfully quitting reduces the anticipated medical cost associated with acute myocardial infarction and smoke, for example, by an estimated $47 in the first year and $853 over the next seven years. Smoking cessation is more cost-effective than other commonly provided clinical preventive services, including mammography, colon cancer screening, PAP tests, treatment of mild to moderate hypertension, and treatment of high cholesterol. Read complete article.
The purpose of the Tobacco Prevention and Education Program is to reduce tobacco consumption through a comprehensive multi-strategy approach that reflects prevention and education strategies. This approach focuses on defining the tobacco use problem, strategic planning, coordination and implementation of tobacco use prevention and control activities among partners, mobilizing communities, programmatic actions addressing legislation policy, media advocacy and counter-marketing, data gathering, surveillance and evaluation. This approach focuses on:
- eliminating exposure to secondhand smoke;
- preventing tobacco use initiation and promote quitting among youth;
- promoting quitting among adults;
- identifying and eliminating disparities among populations
- counter pro-tobacco influences.
The functions and activities of each component of the Tobacco Prevention and Education Program (TPEP) are supported by data collected and analyzed by the epidemiologist. Established sources of data include several national population-based health surveillance systems which include elements pertaining to tobacco use. Survey tools have also been designed and used by TPEP to collect more detailed or topic-specific data in order to meet program needs with respect to planning and evaluation. Read complete article.
The Hawaii Department of Health, Tobacco Prevention and Education Program strives to use data to inform the program planning and evaluation process. Hawaii participates in several national population-based health surveillance systems which collect information on tobacco use. To supplement these, TPEP has participated in and commissioned additional surveys to collect more in-depth information about knowledge, attitudes and media exposure. Periodically, information from these various data sources are pooled to create and update fact sheets, and data monographs which are made available to the public for use and reproduction. In addition, this area covers all the printed materials designed and distributed by the Tobacco program including the Law's Brochure, Cessation materials, secondhand smoke materials among many others. Access detailed listing.
The overall goal of the 2008 Hawaii Tobacco Control Conference “After the Smoke Clears: Facing the Next Challenges in Tobacco Control” was to advance the knowledge of professionals and community members to increase their effectiveness in tobacco control in the context of health, cultural, and economic issues from global, national, and local perspectives. The theme of the 2008 conference focused on the challenges that remain in tobacco control after the smoke clears and our perspectives are sharper. Access link here.
On November 16, 2006, Hawai’i celebrated becoming the 14th state to go smoke-free and enact a comprehensive law that protects workers throughout the state from exposure to secondhand smoke. In a June 2006 report, U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona issued the federal government's scientific report which concludes that there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Act 295 prohibits smoking in enclosed and partially enclosed areas, within 20 feet of doorways and requires signage upon entry to buildings. Read complete article.
Tobacco Prevention & Education Program
1250 Punchbowl St. Rm 217
Honolulu, HI 96813
Phone: (808) 586-4613
Fax: (808) 586-8252
Refer to staff listing.
