Financial Incentives Boost Tobacco Abstinence in Underserved Adults - Ophthalmology Advisor

The rates of sustained tobacco abstinence through 6 months were 4.3% with usual care, 5.1% with added free pharmacotherapy, and 8.8% with added financial incentives. Among medically underserved adults undergoing lung cancer screening, the use of financial incentives nearly doubles smoking cessation rates compared to other incentives, according to research published in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

When the Abbotsford School District extends an invitation to a guest speaker, it asks them to sign a letter acknowledging abstinence as the only way teenagers can be “truly safe” from unwanted sexual outcomes. The letter template, last revised in 2024, says: “In the area of human sexuality instruction, a primary focus will be on sexual abstinence, as this is the only truly safe way to avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.”

Major tobacco-tax reforms in several emerging economies have sharply increased cigarette prices and helped drive down smoking, offering powerful lessons for countries seeking to protect health, raise revenue and advance the World Health Organization’s 3 by 35 Initiative. A new independent analysis of 15 countries finds that every country made improvements to cigarette taxation between 2009 and 2025. The strongest results came where governments acted boldly, substantially raising taxes, simplifying tax systems and preventing cigarettes from becoming more affordable as incomes rose. WHO urges countries to use health taxes to increase the real prices of tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks by 2035. The 3 by 35 Initiative aims to reduce consumption of products that drive noncommunicable diseases and injuries, while generating resources that governments can invest in health and development. “The evidence is clear: when governments make harmful products significantly more expensive, people consume less, lives are saved and public revenues rise,” said Dr Etienne Krug, Director, Department of Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention, WHO.