Cancer Society report: Ohio needs to do more to control tobacco use

Ohio needs to do more to control tobacco use, especially among teenagers and young adults, to reduce its incidence of cancer, the American Cancer Society reported Thursday (Source: “Ohio lags other states in acting to bring down cancer rates, report says,” Cincinnati Enquirer, Aug. 13, 2018).

In its 16th annual state-by-state review on public policy, the society’s Cancer Action Network reported that Ohio’s biggest step forward to confronting cancer has been its Medicaid expansion.

But on a wide range of other issues – early-detection programs for breast and cervical cancer, tobacco excise taxes and legislation prohibiting minors from using tanning devices – Ohio is not doing well, the report said.

Cancer is the second-most-common cause of death in Ohio and in the United States. The state reported this year that cancer killed more than 25,000 Ohioans in 2015, at a rate that was 10 percent higher than the national rate.