The Mississippi State Department of Health has taken steps to make tobacco prevention a catalyst for positive social change on both the state and local levels.
The Mississippi State Department of Health's Office of Tobacco Control is a key component of tobacco prevention and control efforts in Mississippi. We work to address tobacco use by collaborating with partners to educate Mississippians on the effects of tobacco use, empower individuals to end their addiction to tobacco products, and evaluate the effectiveness of tobacco prevention and control efforts.
Educating Mississippians
The Office of Tobacco Control serves as an educational resource for individuals and organizations throughout the state.
From awareness campaigns to grassroots events, we work diligently to educate Mississippians
about the latest findings on the effects of tobacco.
Ending Addiction
Individuals are empowered to conquer their addictions to tobacco products through the Mississippi Tobacco Quitline,
a free informational, referral and telephone counseling service available to anyone living in Mississippi. The Mississippi Tobacco Quitline offers tobacco users the opportunity to end their addiction through a series of telephone counseling sessions.
Evaluating Tobacco Prevention and Control Efforts
Evaluation is key in order to monitor the effectiveness to tobacco prevention and control efforts.
The Mississippi State Department of Health evaluates the state's efforts through a series of evaluation instruments:
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| Collaborating with Partners |
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Mississippi Tobacco Control Network
The Office of Tobacco Control partners with tobacco prevention and control organizations to ensure a comprehensive approach.
Information and Quality Healthcare, the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi, the American Lung Association, the American Cancer Society and the
American Heart Association are just a few of the many organizations that comprise the Mississippi Tobacco Control Network).
This network consists of more than forty partners who created and implement the Mississippi Tobacco Control Five Year Strategic Plan
to ensure strategies related to tobacco prevention and control are a collective effort and that populations with tobacco-related disparities are addressed.
Identifying and Eliminating Tobacco-Related Disparities
In 2006, the Mississippi State Department of Health received a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
for the purpose of developing a tobacco-related disparities strategic plan. Through oversight and coordination by the
Office of Tobacco Control, individuals and organizations representing specific populations are working
together to identify goal areas and develop a strategic plan to reduce the burden of tobacco-related illnesses among specific populations.
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| History of Tobacco Prevention in Mississippi |
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In 1994, Mississippi filed litigation against the tobacco industry that resulted in a $4 billion settlement for the state. Inherent to the tobacco settlement agreement for Mississippi was a promise to fund prevention and cessation programs designed to reverse the trend of tobacco use in Mississippi. In 1997, Jackson County Chancery Judge William Myers approved an order placing $62 million in escrow for the state to develop a tobacco prevention pilot program. As directed by the court, Attorney General Mike Moore began assembling public and private organizations to discuss the best features for such a program. These organizations devised a plan that was presented to the court and approved in 1998. This plan resulted in the formation of The Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi. At the conclusion of the pilot, approximately $20 million annually was court ordered to go directly to The Partnership from the state's tobacco settlement. In addition to these funds, The Mississippi Department of Health received funds from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through a cooperative agreement to implement and enhance for tobacco prevention and cessation efforts.
Although Mississippi was the first state to negotiate a tobacco settlement in 1997, with its first payment received in 1998, no decision regarding spending was made until 1999 when the Legislature established the Health Care Trust Fund. As the first legislatively-created and funded tobacco settlement trust in the nation, the Health Care Trust Fund allows the Legislature to develop an annual plan to expend the interest from the payments received. The 1999 Legislature voted to expend the interest earned ($50 million) on health priorities including the Children's Health Insurance Plan (CHIP), Medicaid reimbursement and others.
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