Each year, on May 31st, health organizations across the world celebrate “World No Tobacco Day” to raise awareness of the burden tobacco use has on the health of our communities and tobacco industry interference.
Did you know that in Chatham-Kent, tobacco use is responsible for 220 deaths, 766 hospitalizations, and 1723 emergency room visits for those aged 35+ each and every year? [i] Or that youth who vape are at increased risk of using tobacco products in the future? [ii]
This unnecessary death, disability and harm to our friends and family members is preventable.
This ‘World No Tobacco Day’ we are asking you to do at least ONE of the following tasks to help make a difference in our community.
1. MAKE A QUIT ATTEMPT!
If you are currently smoking or vaping, there are a variety of programs and supports in place that can help assist you in your journey to quitting. Check out all the options, (counseling, medications or nicotine replacement therapy) listed on our QUIT PAGE.
If you don’t currently have a family doctor (and meet other eligibility requirements) you could also access our CK STOP PROGRAM and get up to 26 weeks of nicotine replacement therapy (patches, gum, lozenges and/or inhaler) free of charge.
2. LEARN MORE ABOUT BRIEF CONVERSATIONS
Developed in collaboration with Ontario Public Health Units and the Lung Health Foundation the Brief Conversations Toolkit aims to help shrink the youth vaping epidemic by increasing brief contact intervention (BCI) knowledge and skills among those who work with youth.
The Brief Conversations Toolkit will help adult allies have short, strategic conversations to guide youth towards quitting vaping and help promote high quality programs and supports like NotAnExperiment.ca, Quash and Stop Vaping Challenge.
Are you concerned about how the industry is targeting youth to experiment with vaping? Learn more about their practices HERE.
3. CREATE HEALTHIER ENVIRONMENTS
This World No Tobacco Day, make your home and vehicles smoke and vape free. For tips on how to do so, please use THIS GUIDE from Health Canada.
Do you own or operate a business in Chatham-Kent? Learn more about our CK Smoke Free By-law or order signage HERE.
Together, we can start to make a difference this World No Tobacco Day, to help create a healthier tomorrow.
For more information, please contact us at CKSmokeFree@Chatham-Kent.ca, or by phone at 519-352-7270 x 2488.
References:
[i] Ontario Health and Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion (Public Health Ontario). Burden of Health Conditions Attributable to Smoking and Alcohol by Public Health Unit in Ontario. Toronto: King’s Printer for Ontario; 2023.
[ii] Association between e-cigarette use and future combustible cigarette use: Evidence from a prospective cohort of youth and young adults, 2017–2019 Addictive Behaviors (2021) Elizabeth C. Hair , Alexis A. Barton , Siobhan N. Perks , Jennifer Kreslake , Haijun Xiao , Lindsay Pitzer , Adam M. Leventhal, Donna M. Vallone