World No Tobacco Day — Spotlight on William C. Weldon American Legacy Foundation® Affirms Critical Need for Effective Environmental Tobacco Smoke Initiatives by Honoring Johnson & Johnson Chairman and CEO New studies on the deadly effects and prevalence of smoking governed this year's World No Tobacco Day. As attention was paid on a global scale, the American Legacy Foundation® again called attention to America's number-one preventable cause of death — tobacco use. "If introduced today, cigarettes would not be allowed on the market because of the death and disease that they cause. When used as directed, they actually kill one-half of lifelong users," Legacy President and CEO Cheryl Healton, Dr. P.H., said. "On World No Tobacco Day — and every other day — we must act to address this health epidemic. Instead of accepting smoking as part of our culture, we must actively work to educate youth about the way cigarettes are marketed to them and help smokers who want to quit." Recent Legacy honoree William C. Weldon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Johnson & Johnson, has played an instrumental role with the CEO Roundtable on Cancer, helping foster innovative and effective reforms in organizations' approaches to smoke-free workplaces. The Roundtable, which is dedicated to the development and implementation of initiatives to reduce the risk of cancer, by enabling early diagnosis, facilitating better access to best-available treatments, and hastening the discovery of novel and more effective diagnostic tools and anti-cancer therapies. One of the Roundtable's crowning achievements is the development of guidelines for companies to adopt in order to be "Gold Standard-certified." Among these guidelines is a directive that companies or organizations establish tobacco-free worksites and cessation policies. A move to tobacco-free worksites will greatly reduce employees' exposure to secondhand smoke, and is exceptionally important in light of research revealing the dangers of secondhand smoke. The American Legacy Foundation earned the Gold Standard distinction last year. According to the Institute of Medicine, the group responsible for reporting on health issues to the U.S. Congress, in the United States alone tobacco kills more than 400,000 people annually. Secondhand smoke claims 50,000 lives. Additionally, the Surgeon General reported in his July 2006 study that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Recent research by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which informed this year's World No Tobacco Day, found that in 2003, smoking was prohibited in nearly three out of four U.S. households. This marks an increase from the 43 percent of homes that restricted smoking just ten years prior. Mr. Weldon has been active in bringing the achievements in households to the workplace. He was crucial in helping Johnson & Johnson attain the Gold Standard certification. Additionally, in reflection of its CEO's health-minded behavior, Johnson & Johnson has an active employee health promotion and benefits program that offers numerous opportunities for tobacco cessation including: the American Cancer Society's Fresh Start® group program; Health Media Breathe® online program; and the Health Partner's Partners in Quitting® program. All of these interventions are offered at no cost to employees and have resulted in Johnson & Johnson successfully reducing the number of tobacco users to less than 10% of their U.S. employee population.