B2 - Public comments and response

January 19, 2014
Mr. Leroy A. Richardson
Chief, Information Collection Review Office
Office of Scientific Integrity
Office of the Associate Director for Science
Office of the Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Road, MS D-74
Atlanta, GA 30333
Via e-mail: omb@cdc.gov
RE: Evaluation of the National Tobacco Prevention and Control Public Education Campaign [OMB No. 0920-0923]
Mr. Richardson:
The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is pleased to submit the following comments in support of CDC’s proposed data
collection for the evaluation of CDC’s National Tobacco Prevention and Control Public Education Campaign (The
Campaign), outlined in the Federal Register on Wednesday, November 20, 2013.
The longitudinal evaluation of smokers and non-smokers, proposed by CDC, is critical to CDC’s efforts to develop and
implement an effective public education campaign, to monitor awareness of campaign messages and to assess changes in
tobacco-related knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and behavior. Longitudinal assessment of tobacco use behavior is essential
to evaluating the Campaign’s impact on long-term successful quitting. An evaluation study such as the one being
proposed is an important public health tool used regularly to improve public education campaigns, and the methods
proposed are standard ones. The results will inform CDC’s efforts both during the campaign and potential subsequent
campaigns.
In addition, we feel that allowing for changes to follow-up survey instruments to assess marketing exposure and use of
other tobacco products is important to ensuring that the Campaign remains timely and relevant. Information gathered will
have enormous practical utility in helping the CDC create campaigns that resonate with key targets, address the current
tobacco product landscape and help tobacco users quit successfully.
The national media campaign to increase awareness of tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke has proven to be a
successful component in the government’s overall initiative to address the devastating toll tobacco takes on our country.
A recent evaluation of the Tips From Former Smokers (Tips) campaign, published in The Lancet, provides powerful
evidence that this campaign is working to reduce tobacco use. The study estimates that, as a result of the 2012 campaign,
1.6 million smokers tried to quit smoking and more than 100,000 likely quit smoking permanently. Researchers estimate
that by quitting, former smokers added more than a third of a million years of life to the U.S. population.i
We urge OMB to approve CDC’s request for data collection, so that CDC is able to ensure that The Campaign continues
to resonate with key audiences and has its intended effect.
WWW.TOBACCOFREEKIDS.ORG

Sincerely,

Meg Riordan
Vice President, Research
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

i

McAfee, T, et al., “Effect of the first federally funded US antismoking national media campaign,” The Lancet September 9, 2013.

WWW.TOBACCOFREEKIDS.ORG