Prevention Matters

Don't forget the 34th annual Great American Smokeout will take place On November 19. Hosted by the American Cancer Society, this event each year promotes smoking cessation by encouraging smokers to give up smoking for a full day. This year's theme is "creating more birthdays,” since smokers who quit at age 35 gain an additional eight years and those who quit at 55 gain an average of an additional five years.

The Great American Smokeout website, www.cancer.org/greatamericans, provides excellent resources to aid in cessation techniques. They suggest that the first step taken should be to select a specific day to quit, within the next 30 days. The website also offers tip sheets and a “Quit Clock.”

Tobacco use is the single most preventable case of disease and death in the US. Partnership for Prevention and ACTTION Coalition are working to provide greater access to smoking cessation services. Many of these cessation programs include collaboration with the federal government and business employers to provide necessary access to cessation services for their employees. Please visit the Partnership for Prevention at www.prevent.org and the ACTTION Coalition at http://www.acttiontoquit.org/.