If you're among the 1 in 5 in N.L. who smoke, the province wants to help you butt out
One in five people in Newfoundland and Labrador smoke, and the provincial government Thursday announced new funding to bring the rate down.
Health Minister John Haggie said $150,000 is being spent on a smoking-cessation program, to be based at St. Clare's Mercy Hospital initially with plans to expand to all of Eastern Health over the next five years. Haggie said the program, which was developed at the University of Ottawa, has proven successful in other regions.
Lisa Dempster, Minister of the Children Seniors and Social Development, was also there. She acknowledged that quitting is not easy.
"Similar to other addictions, tobacco dependence often requires repeated interventions and multiple attempts to quit. Quitting smoking is one of the the most important things a person can do to improve their health, but it is also one of the hardest things to do," she said.
The program will provide for identification, documentation, treatment and follow up of all patients admitted to the hospital who are smokers.
According to a release from the provincial government, a study of nearly 1,400 hospital inpatients who smoke found people who took part in the program were 47 per cent less likely to be readmitted to hospital within 30 days, 26 per cent less likely to be readmitted over two years, and 48 per cent less likely to die over two years.
An Eastern Health official at the program's announcement Thursday said 21 per cent of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians smoke, compared with 18 per cent nationally.
Half of smokers die of smoking-related illnesses, and on average shorten their lives by 10 years, said Haggie.
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