Stamp Out Smoking Encourages Arkansans to Quit Tobacco to Support World No Tobacco Day May 31 - May 26th, 2010
In celebration of World No Tobacco Day on May 31, Stamp Out Smoking is encouraging Arkansas tobacco users to quit by calling the Arkansas Tobacco Quitline at 1-800-QUIT-NOW. The World Health Organization holds World No Tobacco Day every year to raise awareness of the harms of tobacco, the marketing tactics of the tobacco industry and resources available to help people quit.
The theme of the 2010 World No Tobacco Day is “gender and tobacco with an emphasis on marketing to women.” The World Health Organization notes that women comprise about 20 percent of the world’s more than 1 billion smokers, and its recent report on women and health points to evidence that tobacco advertising increasingly targets girls.
“World No Tobacco Day is an opportunity for us to join together with tobacco control partners across the globe to decrease tobacco use and its impact on our communities,” said Dr. Carolyn Dresler, program director of the Arkansas Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program. “Tobacco use has potentially deadly consequences, and we want to make sure Arkansans are informed about the effects and available quitting resources so they can make the best choices for their health.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, smoking increases the risk of women developing lung cancer by 13 times as compared with nonsmokers. It causes 80 percent of all lung cancer deaths in women and 90 percent in men. Cigarette smoking has also been linked to adverse reproductive and early childhood effects such as infertility, preterm delivery, stillbirth, low birth weight and sudden infant death syndrome.
The Quitline offers free one-on-one phone counseling sessions with a trained Quit CoachÒ to help tobacco users break their dangerous habit. Quit Coaches work with the tobacco user to develop a customized plan to quit, select a quit date and determine whether nicotine replacement therapy medications are needed. Medications such as patches or lozenges can be provided free of charge for qualified callers.
Stamp Out Smoking is the media and public education campaign for the Arkansas Department of Health Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program. For more information on quitting resources, visit stampoutsmoking.com or call 1-800-QUIT-NOW.
