Tobacco Reduction Coalition spotlighting toll of smoking

World No Tobacco Day was created by the member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1987 and is celebrated annually on May 31. The goal of World No Tobacco Day is to draw global attention to the world-wide tobacco epidemic and how collaborative solutions are making a difference to save lives.

To promote World No Tobacco Day, the Midland County Tobacco Reduction Coalition is encouraging area physicians and dentists to connect their tobacco-using patients with either state or local resources to get help to stop their habit.

According to Susan Dusseau, coordinator of the Midland County Tobacco Reduction Coalition, "We want to spotlight the human and financial toll that tobacco takes on our community, and emphasize that state and local resources such as the Michigan Tobacco Quitline and Midland-based tobacco treatment coaches are having a positive impact on peoples' lives."

In 2009, 14,440 Michigan residents died from tobacco use and secondhand smoke, $3.4 billion was spent on health care costs, of which $1.1 billion was spent on Medicaid patients, and $3.95 billion was spent on lost productivity costs due to tobacco use.
According to the WHO, there are six proven measures that work to counter the tobacco epidemic. These include: 1) monitoring tobacco use and prevention policies, 2) protecting people from secondhand smoke, 3) offering help to quit tobacco use, 4) warning about the dangers of tobacco, 5) enforcing bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, and 6) raising taxes on tobacco.

Surveys compiled in 2007 show that 21 percent of Midland County adults still smoke cigarettes. Tobacco use remains the number one cause of preventable death in Michigan. The federal Healthy People 2020 goal is to reduce the adult smoking rate to 12 percent.
Dusseau added, "In Michigan, we've already taken many of the steps recommended by the WHO, but these efforts must be sustained to be effective over the long term. Right now our elected leaders are considering cutting critical funding for tobacco prevention programming. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has studied which strategies work to reduce tobacco use, and cutting programs now will have the negative effect of costing taxpayers more in health care and other costs in the months ahead."