cvs health stops selling tobacco Vows to Quit Products NEW: Tobacco Free RI Applauds

health care system that interacts ever more closely with patients, giving flu shots, reminding them when they are not filling prescriptions, and, through its 800 Minute Clinic in-store nurse practitioner stations, prescribing medicines

(The company changed its name from CVS Caremark to CVS Health at about the time the last of cigarettes disappeared from store shelves in September of that year.) The company said on Thursday it would provide funding over five years to leading anti-tobacco and youth-oriented programs with a view to further reducing tobacco use among young people, under the name Be the First, a reference to the goal of making todays youth the first tobacco-free generation

Troyen Brennan told Fortune .And its about prevention. Its clear that the tobacco decision continues to hurt CVSs retail sales and shopper traffic: same-store sales of general merchandise, known as front store same-store sales (excludes pharmacy prescriptions) fell 5% last year, but would have been roughly unchanged over 2014 otherwise

This is possible because CVS has records of both in-store and mail-order prescriptions

Q: Can you envision using your ownership of Aetna in the future to begin to nudge people to get health care services at a MinuteClinic or HealthHUB

The announcement comes as CVS gears up for its PBM selling season, the time of year when it tries to land new Caremark contracts with big employers and health plans