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Fighting for Air – the Story of the American Lung Association

Since the 1950s, the American Lung Association has battled against the scourge of tobacco use, which is a major cause of lung-related deaths and disease.  The Lung Association was one of the first organizations to tell people about the dangers of smoking, even before the landmark Surgeon General's Report on smoking was issued in 1964.  The Lung Association has also pushed for laws to eliminate exposure to toxic secondhand smoke, starting with airplanes in the early 1990s and now in all public places and workplaces, including restaurants and bars.

But our record begins farther back. Now in our second century, the American Lung Association saves lives, by improving lung health and preventing lung disease. The American Lung Association is fighting for air through research, education and advocacy.

Fighting From the Start

The American Lung Association was founded in 1904 to combat tuberculosis, decades before antibiotics made it a curable disease.  Tuberculosis (TB) was the most feared disease in the world, striking down the young and old, the rich and poor.

Over the next 50 years, the Association played a critical role in developing and funding increasingly effective weapons to prevent, detect and treat the disease. By the late 1950s, tuberculosis was largely controlled in the U.S.  But our work was far from over.

Taking on Smoking

In fighting TB, we learned that by harnessing political will and using the right advocacy tools, we could tame a horrible public health problem. With the same intent, the American Lung Association targeted tobacco use. 

By the late 1950s, scientific evidence was mounting that smoking was a cause of lung cancer and other serious ailments.  Consequently, the Lung Association started to tell people about the dangers of smoking even prior to the U.S. Surgeon General's report on smoking in 1964.  Our fight grew from there into a sophisticated public health-based campaign for research, education and advocacy on the issue.

Unlike TB however, smoking had (and still has) a powerful industry supporting it.  Close to half of the U.S. population smoked in 1964. A person could smoke virtually anywhere.  The fight has taken time, resources and commitment—and we continue to fight.

The proof of our impact is clear.  Smoking rates have dropped by more than half since 1965.  The Lung Association has worked with federal, state and local governments, and other public health organizations   to cut the rate of smoking in America.  We also joined the fight against toxic secondhand smoke indoors in the 1970s.  Now, 26 states and the District of Columbia, as well as hundreds of local communities, have laws in place prohibiting smoking in almost all public places and workplaces.

Click here to learn more about the milestones in our fight against smoking.

The Fight Continues Today

Although we have made much progress towards ending tobacco use, the tobacco industry fights our efforts at every turn.  And close to 21 percent of people in America still smoke, leading to over 393,000 deaths from smoking each year.

Our proven programs like Freedom from Smoking®  continue to help people across the country quit smoking.  We're funding research that continues to reveal the effects of smoking and the secrets of lung diseases, from asthma to cancer.  And year-round, we're in the halls of the legislatures and Congress, as well as in the courts to keep our air smokefree and our lungs healthy.

 After more than 100 years, the American Lung Association is still fighting for air.