OKLAHOMA CITY – Poor health outcomes, specifically smoking related diseases, are greatly affecting Oklahoma’s workforce, according to former US Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.
The physician and longtime former US Representative from Georgia was in Oklahoma recently talking to lawmakers about smoking alternatives he says will improve health outcomes.
“Our posture is that if you don’t smoke, you ought not start. If you do smoke, you ought to quit. And if you can’t quit, which is the vast majority of smokers today, then you ought to change to something else that is much less likely to cause disease, cancer or death. Obviously, we want all Americans, all Oklahomans, to be healthy,” said Dr. Tom Price.
Price says heated tobacco products (or HTP’s) offer a safer alternative for current smokers.
“Nicotine is a highly addictive substance, without a doubt, but it doesn’t cause cardiac disease, heart disease or lung disease. It certainly doesn’t cause cancer. So when you switch to these innovative products that are able to deliver nicotine to individuals who are unable to quit smoking, that’s a positive for them. It improves their health status,” said Price.
Price says curbing our state’s smoking problem by switching users to heated not burning tobacco products will lead to a better workforce and healthier, happier Oklahomans.
“Smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and deaths in this country and in Oklahoma . We spend huge amounts of money on it. Oklahoma itself spends $3.6 billion a year on these smoking related diseases. We still lose 8,000 individuals a year in Oklahoma alone to smoking,” said Price. “If you can keep the workforce healthy, then you’ll be able to have higher productivity and greater happiness within the workplace itself.”
“Insurance costs are remarkably significant. So, the costs for employers, both small and large, all across the United States, increases markedly if they don’t have a healthy workforce,” said Price.
The former Health and Human Services Secretary says it takes more than just a health push to get smokers to switch to HTBs though.
“We need to talk to the legislature, to let them know that there’s a way to incentivize individuals to quit smoking so that you can save lives and save money,” said Price.” If you lower the taxes on smoke free products, then you actually incentivize individuals to quit smoking and move towards something that is much healthier for them.”
