State health department launches new
anti-smoking campaign
'Alone for a Lifetime' urges smokers to
quit, use Illinois Tobacco Quitline to Help
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[November 27, 2012]
CHICAGO -- The Illinois Department of
Public Health has launched "Alone for a Lifetime," a new
anti-smoking campaign depicting the powerful personal and emotional
impact that smoking-related illnesses have on smokers' families --
especially their children. The campaign includes billboard and print
ads as well as a television commercial being shown statewide.
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"Smoking continues to negatively impact the health of our communities, and
smoking-related illnesses continue to devastate families," said Dr. LaMar
Hasbrouck, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health. "The immediate
health benefits of quitting smoking are substantial. I encourage all smokers who
want to quit to take advantage of the Illinois Tobacco Quitline today." "Alone
for a Lifetime" targets parents, loved ones and caregivers who are
smokers, asking them to consider the impact of their loss on the children in
their lives. The ads feature children and include the slogan "Don't quit on her.
Quit for her." The Illinois Tobacco Quitline, 1-866-QUIT-YES (1-866-784-8937),
is also featured in all of the billboard, print and television ads.
A recent study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found
that strongly emotional or graphic anti-smoking ads are effective in motivating
adult smokers to quit. Earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention launched the successful "Tips from Former Smokers" campaign,
featuring former smokers who were suffering from a variety of illnesses directly
related to tobacco use.
Smoking is the leading cause of premature, preventable deaths in Illinois.
Although smoking rates have declined since 1995, smoking still costs the state
about $3 billion in direct medical expenditures each year and
claims the lives of about 16,000 adults in Illinois annually.
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So far this year, nearly 25,000 Illinois residents requested help
for quitting smoking through the
Illinois Tobacco Quitline, a free service with trained staffers
known as "quit coaches" who are available to callers 7 a.m. to 11
p.m. daily. Quit coaches provide advice and support and also can
assist with acquiring nicotine replacement aids such as patches, gum
and lozenges.
The Quitline is a project of the Illinois Department of Public
Health in partnership with the American Lung Association in
Illinois.
To see the "Alone for a Lifetime" television ad, visit the
following YouTube link:
http://youtu.be/t-bZxbeBm4Q.
[Text from
Illinois
Department of Public Health file received from
the
Illinois Office of
Communication and Information]
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