Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Honors Devan Ogburn of Upper Marlboro, Md. As Eastern Region Youth Advocate of the Year

Leadership in Fight Against Tobacco Recognized Nationally

News provided by

May 13, 2014, 09:00 ET

WASHINGTON, May 13, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Devan Ogburn, 16, of Upper Marlboro, Md., has been named the Eastern Region Youth Advocate of the Year by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids for her leadership in the fight against tobacco. Devan will be honored at a gala in the nation's capital on Thursday (May 15) along with a national winner, three other U.S. regional winners and a group winner.

Devan is a junior at Leonardtown High School. She is passionate about tobacco control because many of her relatives are tobacco users. For the past two years, she has served as President of the Maryland Association of Student Councils and has used that position to be a leader in fighting tobacco use. She has led efforts in support of the Healthy Maryland Initiative, a campaign to increase the state tobacco tax by $1 per pack and fund tobacco prevention and health care initiatives. She has conducted workshops and presentations to her peers and, as a result, gained the endorsement and support of all local Student Council Associations in the state.

Devan has spoken before the Maryland State Board of Education about the need for youth involvement in tobacco policy change. She has participated in press conferences and testified before the Senate Taxation and Budget Committee.

More than 400 public health, political, civic and business leaders will attend the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids' 18th annual gala in Washington, D.C., to recognize these young leaders. The winners will receive educational scholarships and grants to continue their prevention efforts. They also serve as ambassadors for Tobacco-Free Kids.

"We are thrilled to honor Devan as our Eastern Region Youth Advocate of the Year," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "Young leaders like her are crucial in the fight to make tobacco history and end this epidemic for good. With their help, we can create the first tobacco-free generation."

Without urgent action to reduce smoking, 5.6 million U.S. children alive today will die prematurely from smoking-caused disease, according to the latest Surgeon General's report on tobacco and health. That includes 92,000 children in Maryland alone.

In Maryland, tobacco use claims 6,400 lives and costs $2.7 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 12.5 percent of the state's high school students smoke. Nationally, tobacco use kills more than 480,000 people and costs the nation at least $289 billion in health care bills and other economic losses each year.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080918/CFTFKLOGO

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids