health
CDC unveils ad campaign to reduce smoking
Posted March 26, 2012
A national advertising campaign that features the stories of former smokers living with smoking-related diseases and disabilities is the federal government’s latest effort to reduce tobacco use among the public and prevent nonsmokers from starting the habit.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched the Tips from Former Smokers initiative on March 15. Ads will appear for at least 12 weeks on billboards, radio and television and in magazines and newspapers. The ads focus on smoking-related lung and throat cancer, myocardial infarction, stroke, Buerger’s disease and asthma. The campaign includes suggestions from former smokers on how to get dressed when you have a stoma, information on what scars from heart surgery look like and reasons why people have given up tobacco(link).
The ads feature a toll-free number (800-QUIT-NOW) to access support for quitting smoking and the smokefree.gov website, which offers information on how to kick the habit (link).
Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the U.S., killing more than 443,000 Americans a year, according to the CDC. More than 8 million Americans are living with a smoking-related disease, and every day more than 1,000 people younger than 18 become daily smokers. About 70% of people who smoke say they want to quit, and half make a serious attempt to do so each year, the CDC says.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/03/26/hlbf0326.htm.