We are one of many statewide partners, including concerned citizens, legislators, health advocates, community and social service organizations, tobacco coalitions, hospitals and local businesses, working to reduce the burden of tobacco and nicotine on Vermonters. As an extension of our department, 12 local health offices are located around the state and support individuals and communities at the local level.
This group works closely with our grantees and other partners, community leaders and legislators to promote and implement programs and policies that reduce tobacco use in Vermont. Specifically, they’re pivotal in passing smoke-free and other tobacco prevention laws, tobacco taxes and other policies.
Learn more about the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Vermont
Vermont’s Tobacco-Free College Campus Initiative was a partnership of Vermont colleges, universities, community coalitions and the Vermont Department of Health to support the health of our communities of higher learning. Through this initiative, all public colleges and universities, and nearly all private colleges in Vermont, are now smoke-free.
Learn more about Vermont’s Tobacco-Free College Campus Initiative
We fund 12 tobacco control and prevention community grantees. These coalitions work with various partners, such as schools, healthcare organizations, state and local government, nonprofits, businesses and media, to prevent and reduce tobacco use and exposure in their communities. Through their efforts, strong tobacco-free social norms have been shaped and protective measures passed. The coalitions serve Vermonters all around the state.
Some examples of grantee initiatives include:
Read our Success Stories.
Over the past two decades, our program has partnered with the Agency of Education to support the local chapters of Our Voices Xposed (OVX), for high school-aged youth leaders, and Vermont Kids Against Tobacco (VKAT), for middle school youth leaders.
Some OVX and VKAT accomplishments:
Learn more about the work of OVX and VKAT projects in these presentations.
We collaborate with local chapters of national organizations that support tobacco control and prevention through research, resources, practice improvement and advocacy.
We also partner with the Agency of Human Services and others to address tobacco-related disparities.
As an example, we worked with the Department of Vermont Health Access (DVHA) to provide reimbursements for counseling provided by clinicians and tobacco treatment specialists, including referrals to 802quits.org.
Via this partnership, information was mailed directly to health care providers and to people insured by Medicaid, resulting in higher quit tool orders and increased calls to the Vermont Quitline. From 2013 to 2018, the proportion of ever smokers who became former smokers in the past year (Quit Ratio) more than doubled, while smoking declined from 36% to 29% among Medicaid-insured adults. This includes a 2% decline in smoking between 2017 and 2018 alone. In 2019, VT was expected to save $12 million dollars in Medicaid spending as a result of the 2% absolute decline in smoking from 2017 to 2018.
Additionally, we meet regularly with our state and local government partners to share information, research and data, provide trainings and materials, explore health care policy and tailor outreach.
We regularly partner with:
We collaborate with several community-based organizations to reach populations that are especially vulnerable to the health impacts of tobacco or have above average rates of tobacco use. Working with organizations that have an established relationship and direct access to certain populations allow us to better serve all Vermonters.
Our partners have included:
Learn more about our work to address differences in tobacco use among certain populations, visit Populations in Focus.
