Dean Bloom (right) gives Matthew Myers one of the awards.

The Richmond Award is the highest honor conferred by HSPH and is named after the former U.S. Surgeon General and current John D. MacArthur Professor of Health Policy Emeritus at Harvard. Winners this year were three state attorneys general who served as architects of the Master Settlement Agreement, an advocate for children, and a renowned epidemiologist.

"We are particularly excited about this year’s recipients, each of whom has played a pivotal role in the war against tobacco, which remains the greatest preventable cause of death and disease worldwide,’’ said HSPH Dean Barry Bloom. "But I have to say the battle is not won,’’ he continued. "I hope the occasion today will regalvanize and reignite our commitment to dealing with the problem.’’

Dimitrios Trichopoulos (left) and Julius Richmond

"They helped craft a new chapter in public health history,’’ said Howard Koh, associate dean for public health practice at HSPH who, as Massachusetts Public Health Commissioner, helped develop one the nation’s most successful smoking prevention and cessation models.

"This entire movement was a real achievement,’’ Harshbarger said. "We had a marvelous effort, and we are grateful for being acknowledged. We are very proud of what we did.’’

Also winning the Richmond Award were Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, and Dimitrios Trichopoulos, a cancer epidemiologist at HSPH whose landmark study in 1981 proved second-hand smoke was associated with increased lung cancer risk.

"Passive smoking is much more important than many other presumed or real risks that surround us," said Trichopoulos.

	Mike Moore

"Where’s the public outrage?’’ said Moore, who noted proudly that in Mississippi, one of the nation’s poorest states, tobacco control programs have not been cut. He was particularly critical of Massachusetts and Florida for gutting their successful programs. "You’re protecting children, you’re saving lives,’’ he said. "When you have something that’s working, you don’t turn the spigot off. It’s an atrocity.’’ When asked why programs were being dismantled when they worked so well, Moore said that he did not know and urged Dean Bloom and audience members to call legislators and ask them, holding them accountable.

Scott Harshbarger (left) and Howard Koh

Said Myers: "Sure, we’re all disappointed the states are not spending more. But we haven’t lost the war.’’ He pointed out that since the Master Settlement Agreement, some 38 states have increased excise taxes on tobacco and eight states have passed workplace smoking bans.

"This is a movement that is changing the face of America,’’ said Myers. "The net result has been the most substantial decline in tobacco usage that we’ve ever seen.’’

Since 1997, adult smoking nationwide has dropped from 24.7 percent to 20.3 percent, and teen smoking is down from 36.4 percent to 21.9 percent, he said.

"The challenge now is to build on it,’’ said Myers, expressing hope that the anti-smoking movement can be exported worldwide.

"This year, four million people around the world will die of tobacco use,’’ he said. "That number will rise to 10 million by 2030 if trends don’t change. We simply can’t afford another epidemic, particularly a manmade, preventable epidemic.’’

A webcast of the Richmond Award Ceremony can be found on the web site at http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/richmondaward/

--ML