Experts Warn Federal Budget Cuts Threaten Progress in Tobacco Control Efforts

Recent budget reductions by the federal government are raising alarms among public health experts regarding their potential impact on tobacco prevention initiatives. A new commentary published in Nicotine and Tobacco Research highlights that approximately $2 billion in research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have been terminated, alongside a $783 million cut aimed at diversity and inclusion projects. These cuts threaten to undo significant advances in tobacco control, especially efforts addressing health disparities among vulnerable populations in the United States.

The authors emphasize that tobacco use remains a major health burden, causing around 480,000 premature deaths annually and generating over $600 billion in healthcare costs and lost productivity. Despite past successes, disparities persist across different racial, socioeconomic, sexual, and gender groups, as outlined in the 2024 US Surgeon General's Report.

Funding losses have disproportionately affected programs focused on minority health and tobacco-related disparities. Notably, the NIH’s Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, which finances research on racial equity and the health of sexual and gender minorities, faced major grant cuts. Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Office of Smoking and Health—responsible for well-known campaigns like "Tips from Former Smokers"—was entirely eliminated, which could hinder ongoing efforts to reduce smoking rates.

This campaign alone has prevented nearly 130,000 premature deaths, saved billions in healthcare costs, and promoted millions of calls to quit lines. The loss of the office funding and staffing will likely impair the infrastructure supporting tobacco cessation at state and local levels, with some states already experiencing reductions in quit line funding.

Furthermore, recent layoffs at the US Food & Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products threaten the continuation of youth prevention campaigns, which estimated to prevent hundreds of thousands of youth from vaping. The authors warn that these setbacks could significantly weaken tobacco control efforts, increase disparities, and slow down progress in reducing tobacco-related health inequalities.

Led by Jin Kim-Mozeleski, the authors stress the importance of safeguarding tobacco health equity research and call on public health stakeholders to take actionable steps to counteract these adverse impacts. They underscore that without targeted investment, the momentum gained in tobacco control and health equity could be lost, ultimately affecting millions of Americans.

For more details, see the full article in Nicotine and Tobacco Research (DOI: 10.1093/nictob/ntaf186).