Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights Condemns Layoffs at Federal Health Agencies and Urges Advocates to Keep Up the Fight
Berkeley, CA — The Trump administration began mass layoffs of thousands of staffers at federal health agencies today, including the FDA, CDC, and NIH. With entire agencies like the FDA Center for Tobacco Prevention and the CDC Office on Smoking and Health slated for elimination, smokefree protections and substance abuse prevention efforts across the country will be increasingly vulnerable — which will only embolden the tobacco industry and their allies to strike.
Cynthia Hallett, MPH, president and CEO of Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR), released the following statement in response to the administration’s elimination of a generation of successful public health leaders:
“Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR) finds the administration’s decision to fire thousands of staff members who are working tirelessly to protect the health and safety of the American people appalling and completely baseless. While the federal government eliminates the science, data, and infrastructure for addressing the tobacco epidemic, Big Tobacco and its allies will be working to maximize smoking at the expense of public health. Strong smokefree laws and other lifesaving public health policies are under attack as states will stop receiving federal funding to protect them. Health departments across the country could even begin to censor any information they publicize out of fear of being dismantled themselves.
“All in all, these mass layoffs are detrimental to national public health. Without an infrastructure that prioritizes evidence-based policies, promotes science, and secures systematic change, those who are most vulnerable — people of color, older adults, lower-income families, and children — will be at the greatest risk of death and disease at the hands of industry greed.
“For nearly 50 years, ANR has served as watchdogs, never backing down from an industry led by racketeers. We are steadfast in standing up for workers’ rights, because everyone deserves to breathe smokefree air. We cannot return to the days of old when smoking was everywhere — in offices, grocery stores, movie theaters, elevators, and airplanes. We will continue to serve as a watchdog on industry interference and help the movement to navigate the changing public health landscape. We will sustain and support tobacco prevention and smokefree legislation efforts by continuing to highlight overlooked voices in vulnerable communities, including casino workers in states with casino smoking loopholes, and by working against industry executives and lawmakers who refuse to endorse policies that save lives.
“This fight will be long and hard, and all of us must pitch in if we have a chance at protecting our nation’s health. We urge advocates everywhere to join us by speaking up for nonsmokers’ rights and by providing funding for health equity efforts. One setback does not mean the fight for our rights is over.”
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Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR) is a member-supported, non-profit advocacy group that has been working for over 45 years, since 1976, to protect everyone’s right to breathe nontoxic air in workplaces and public places, from offices and airplanes to restaurants, bars, and casinos. ANR has continuously shined a light on the tobacco industry’s interference with sound and life-saving public health measures and successfully protected 61% of the population with local or statewide smokefree workplace, restaurant, and bar laws. ANR aims to close gaps in smokefree protections for workers in all workplaces, including bars, music venues, casinos, and hotels. For more information, please visit https://nonsmokersrights.org and https://smokefreecasinos.org.
