In 1964 the Surgeon General released a report titled “Smoking and Health” concluding that cigarette smoking is a major cause of lung cancer. The report was a top news story, and led to laws requiring warnings on cigarette packages and bans on advertising. Since then, additional Surgeon General reports focused on secondhand smoke and new tobacco distribution systems, such as e-cigarettes, again resulting in changes to law.
Although it took roughly half a century after the first report for public understanding to follow, smoking rates have declined by more than 50%, decreasing both lung cancer and lung cancer death rates. In addition, tobacco companies settled a lawsuit with states to recover billions of dollars in healthcare costs attributed to tobacco.
In June of last year Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared firearm violence a public health concern. Was the 2024 Surgeon General Advisory declaring gun violence a public health problem poised to do the same thing?
Gun violence takes multiple forms including suicide, homicide, domestic violence, mass shootings, and mental health effects of witnessing violence.
It’s a uniquely American problem. Overall firearm-related death rate here is over tenfold higher than 28 other high-income countries. Guns are now the leading cause of death for children under age 18, surpassing car accidents, infections, and cancer. Arizona loses over 1,300 people a year to gun violence at rates over 40% higher than the nation.
Labeling gun violence a public health problem reveals the true scope of the problem and emphasizes comprehensive, evidence-based approaches to prevention and intervention.
Public health research has found effective solutions to gun violence. These include solutions that don’t infringe on the rights of law-abiding gun owners – licensing, safe storage, and interventions to prevent access for those who pose harm.
Due to a 20-year ban on research related to gun violence that just ended in 2022, we need to improve collection and sources of gun violence data and use them to evaluate short and long-term outcomes of gun violence interventions, as well as investigate best methods to implement these solutions.
AzPHA Report: Firearm Violence in Arizona: Data to Support Prevention Policies
The Surgeon General’s Advisory called for a collective commitment of the nation to open our eyes to the problem, demand evidence-based interventions, and implement regulations that work to mitigate the problem.
In addition, the Surgeon General’s Advisory pushed for a neutral space to talk about the unintended consequences of gun ownership and the need for more research and action on effective strategies. A recent survey of gun owners found high levels of support for gun safety policies.
In a week that celebrates the value of public health and highlights important gains in health outcomes, like decreases in tobacco-related diseases, infectious diseases, motor vehicle deaths, infant mortality, and improvements in water and food safety, it is important to recognize future challenges.
Even more importantly, we need effective tools, such as Surgeon General’s advisories based on science, to guide prevention strategies that will improve the health of all Americans.
Dr. Sarah Lindstrom Johnson is an Arizona Public Health Association member and an Associate Professor at Arizona State University whose work focuses on decreasing the consequences of violence for youth.
Jean Ajamie is an Arizona Public Health Association member and an advisor and advocate for youth health and safety and former deputy associate superintendent for school safety for the state of Arizona.
Burt Feuerstein is an Arizona Public Health Association member and a Professor of Child Health and Neurology at the U of A College of Medicine – Phoenix and Emeritus Professor of Lab Medicine, Neurosurgery, and Pediatrics at Univ of CA San Francisco.
