Cigarette smoking in the United States has hit an all-time low based on the 2013 data gathered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A recent survey conducted by the agency revealed that the recorded smoking rate in 2013 was 17.8 percent, which is equal to 42.1 million smokers. It is lower compared to 20.9 percent or 45.1 million smokers in 2005.
This marked the lowest smoking rate recorded since the agency began conducting surveys in 1965, which is described as "encouraging" given the fact that the population in the country has been continuously increasing.
"There is encouraging news in this study, but we still have much more work to do to help people quit," said CDC's Office on Smoking and Health Director Tim McAfee, M.D., M.P.H.
However, federal health experts are still convinced that the government should implement more aggressive measures to further eradicate cigarette smoking in the United States.
"We can bring down cigarette smoking rates much further, much faster, if strategies proven to work are put in place like funding tobacco control programs at the CDC-recommended levels, increasing prices of tobacco products, implementing and enforcing comprehensive smoke-free laws, and sustaining hard-hitting media campaigns," Dr. McAfee asserted.
Other anti-smoking organizations also recognized the progress achieved by the public with respect to the decrease in number of smokers in the country. However, most anti-smoking groups said that the progress is still disappointing because the number of smokers could go down further if there will be stricter policies from the government.
"While it is good news that smoking continues to decline, it is disappointing and unacceptable that we're not making greater progress in reducing smoking -- the number one cause of preventable death," Susan Liss, executive director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said in a statement.
In addition, Liss asserted that the government has reduced and "severely underfunded" the efforts towards tobacco inhibition campaigns and cessation programs.
"Without a serious national commitment to adopt proven strategies to reduce death and disease caused by tobacco, 5.6 million children alive today will die prematurely from tobacco-related diseases. Funding tobacco prevention and cessation programs at the CDC-recommended levels, enacting higher state and federal tobacco taxes, and passing smoke-free laws -- all proven strategies to reduce the death and disease caused by smoking - will save lives," Liss emphasized in her statement.
According to CDC data, tobacco use has been identified as the leading cause of preventable death worldwide. In the U.S., 480,000 deaths annually are attributed to cigarette smoking while 41,000 deaths are caused by exposure to secondhand smoke.
