Editor’s Note: Every Wednesday, Breaking Bronx features a health-related story, event or tidbit as part of an online expansion of our Be Healthy! column.

Anti-smoking groups in the Bronx and across the state are deriding a proposed budget plan that would slash tobacco control funding by $5 million this year, a cut they say could reverse the strides New York has made in getting residents to quit the habit and could lead to more young people taking up smoking.

“While we have seen a decrease in smoking rates, we still have over 850,000 smokers, many of whom are the most vulnerable populations,” said Sheelah A. Feinberg, the Director of the NYC Coalition for a Smoke-Free City. “We still have much work to do, as we continue to protect the next generation of New Yorkers from the harmful effects of tobacco use and secondhand smoke.”

Advocates point to a recent report released by the United States Surgeon General about the dangers of the tobacco industry’s insidious marketing campaigns aimed at young people. The report, “Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults,” calls for tougher action against cigarette aids aimed at young people.

“Targeted marketing encourages more young people to take up this deadly addiction every day,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in Washington as the report was released. “This administration is committed to doing everything we can to prevent our children from using tobacco.”

According to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, 22,500 children under 18 become smokers every year. Bronx advocates, like the Bronx Smoke-Free Partnership and the Highbridge Community Life Center, have been campaigning against tobacco marketing aimed at children, particularly against ads portrayed in local bodegas.

“The Surgeon General’s Report serves as a confirmation to the importance of the Partnership’s work in our borough,” said Bronx Smoke-Free Partnership manager David A. Lehmann. “We, our community partners and elected officials throughout the Bronx are committed to the life-saving work of tobacco control, as 151,000 Bronx smokers still need our help.”

The group says New York’s tobacco control budget has undergone relentless cuts over the last several years, and is nearly half of what it was four years ago. The federal Centers for Disease Control recommends New York State allocated $254 million for tobacco control efforts; the proposed budget for the next fiscal year would allocate only $36 million.

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