CVS Health Trying To Tackle Youth Vaping

(RTTNews) - CVS Health Corp. (CVS) Tuesday said it is launching a new $50 million campaign to help curb teen vaping.

Five years ago, CVS pulled all tobacco products from it shelves, shutting off a $2 billion a year business.

"Five years ago, we knew exiting tobacco was the right thing to do for our company and for the health of our customers and the communities we serve," said Larry J. Merlo, President and CEO, CVS Health. "But our decision to eliminate tobacco was just the start. As a health care company now combined with Aetna, we continue to take bold steps to develop and deliver innovative solutions for the communities we serve, one individual and one community at a time."

"Within a year of CVS Health's decision to stop selling tobacco, consumers had purchased 100 million fewer packs of cigarettes," said CVS Health Chief Medical Officer, Troyen Brennan, M.D., M.P.H. "Households that had purchased cigarettes exclusively at CVS Pharmacy were 38% more likely to stop buying cigarettes."

The initiative includes smoking cessation programs both though CVS Caremark and through Aetna Better Health managed Medicaid plans.

The investment will also go toward providing educational materials and tools to prevent smoking and vaping to clinicians.