April 13-17 is Smoking Cessation Awareness Week

“Show Me You Can Quit” is an initiative organized by more than 20 anti-smoking advocacy organizations in an effort to help area residents quit smoking. April 13-17 is designated as Smoking Cessation Awareness Week.

• Resources to help smokers quit:
  • Talk to your doctor or health care provider today about help quitting
  • Call the Illinois Tobacco Quitline at 866-QUIT-YES (866-784-8937) to access free smoking cessation resources
  • Use #StLouisQuits to share your quit story on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and find more information about cessation week events to support your quit

Smoking Cessation Awareness Week Partners include: American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association, American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America, BJC HealthCare, City of St. Louis Department of Health, Esse Health, Mercy, Missouri Association of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons, Missouri Baptist Medical Center, Missouri Quit Line, Missouri State Medical Association, Siteman Cancer Center, SSM Healthcare, St. Louis Cardinals,  St. Anthony’s Physician Organization, St. Louis Area Business Health Coalition, St. Louis County Health Department, St. Louis University Cancer Center, St. Louis University Hospital, St. Luke’s Hospital, Tobacco Free Missouri, University of Missouri St. Louis, and Washington University School of Medicine.

• Smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths yearly – more than HIV, drug and alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries and firearm-related incidents combined.
• Smoking is estimated to increase the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke by two to four times, and developing lung cancer by at least 25 times. It increases risks for pre-term delivery, stillbirth, low birth weight, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, and ectopic pregnancy in women, and can affect men’s sperm.
• Smokers are twice as likely to quit when they combine use of counseling and cessation medications
  • 6 percent of former smokers who used medicine during their cessation process were successful.

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