The Top 5 things that kill people in the US are: heart disease, cancer, lung disease such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis, stroke and injuries. In fact- these 5 conditions cause 63% of all deaths in the US — which is nearly 18,000 people each year in AZ (about 50 people/day in AZ). This week [...]
It’s no public health secret that tobacco use continues to be a dominant cause of preventable disease and death in the US. While the trend has been encouraging (Arizona’s smoking rate is down to 17%), there’s still much work to be done- and continued efforts to provide creative and effective ways to help adult smokers [...]
Today we published Arizona’s first ever comprehensive State Health Assessment. The objective of the State Health Assessment is to give Arizona’s public health and health care systems a clear tool to help drive future decision-making and resource allocation as we collectively design and implement evidence-based interventions to improve health and wellness outcomes across Arizona. The [...]
50 years ago this week the 1st Surgeon General’s report on the health dangers of smoking was published- and we’re still fighting the battle. About 43 million Americans still smoke despite decades of warnings. Smoking kills more people every year than car crashes, suicides, murders, illegal and prescription drugs, and alcohol abuse combined (6,800 people [...]
I know that some of you out there are going to attend the Winter Olympics - so I put together the blog post below over the weekend for folks that might be going. Here goes in case you’re interested: Let’s start with the good news first- then the health tips… Sochi Games to be Smoke Free- Russians [...]
We continue to make strides to get Arizonans to Kick the Habit. We got the good news this week that Arizona’s adult smoking rate dropped 2 more percentage points in the last year… going from 19% 2011 to 17% today. The data come from this year’s CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System… and it translates [...]
Public health embarked on a smoking revolution over the last few decades, kicking it into high gear to provide programs and policies to help Arizonans change their smoking habits. While by no means has the tobacco battle been won, America is currently undergoing another revolution—a walking revolution. Physical activity is not new territory in public [...]
Our focus groups with young tobacco users across Arizona has found that teen and young adult smokers are different from adult smokers. Young smokers may not smoke daily and don't see themselves as smokers. They also aren’t receptive to the idea of needing help to quit. Many teen and young adult smokers believe that they can quit at [...]
Tobacco is one of the most difficult addictions to break. A successful tobacco quitter can make on average 10 attempts before they’re able to finally kick the habit. This week we launched Project Quit, a new initiative developed in partnership with the Arizona Smokers Helpline a.k.a. ASHLine to showcase the tobacco quit process. Project Quit follows [...]
Our Smoke Free Arizona program turned 6 last month. Voters approved the Act back in November of ’06 by a few percentage points. The Initiative language gave us a super-short turn-around time and we turned the key on the program by May of ’07. Implementation of the Initiative was smooth from the get-go and compliance with the [...]
