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State launching new anti-smoking campaign
Springfield News-Leader
5/28/2009
The Missouri Foundation for Health has launched a national campaign, “Become An Ex” to Missouri to help combat the state’s high smoking rates.
The foundation, as a founding member of the National Alliance for Tobacco Cessation, joins leading public health organizations and 13 other states to make this unprecedented public health effort possible.
The Ex campaign was developed by the American Legacy Foundation along with health experts at the Mayo Clinic.
Nearly one-fourth of the state’s adults, 23.3 percent, are smokers and about 10,000 Missourians die annually from smoking-related illness.
Ex campaign advertising aims to change the way adult smokers think about the difficult process of quitting and to guide them to valuable resources at BecomeAnEx.org.
The foundation decided to enhance the options for Missouri smokers who want to quit by launching a statewide effort also featuring 1-800-Quit-Now, the Missouri Tobacco Quitline.
“Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in Missouri. Quitting smoking is the single most important thing smokers can do for their health and the health of those who live with them,” said Matt Kuhlenbeck, program director for the Missouri Foundation for Health.
The Missouri Tobacco Quitline offers free action-orientated cessation tools and trained quit coaches who help callers develop personalized quit plans.
The goal of the Missouri Ex campaign is to increase the use of the quitline as an excellent support to those wanting to quit and re-learn life without cigarettes.
Both the Web site and the quitline provide information that can help smokers prepare for a quit attempt, practice overcoming different smoking triggers, learn about addiction and helpful medications and call on the support of friends and family.
Established in 2000, the Missouri Foundation for Health is the largest non-governmental funder of community health activities in the state of Missouri.
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