Tobacco users who want to quit are encouraged to call 1-866-QUIT-4-LIFE (1-866-784-8454) on Thursday, May 31, 2012 to help set a new record for the number of tobacco users receiving support from the Quit For Life® Program in a single day. The record-breaking attempt is part of Alere Wellbeing’s push to support World No Tobacco Day, sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Established by the World Health Organization in 1987, World No Tobacco Day is celebrated every May 31 as an annual recognition of global efforts against tobacco use. The theme of World No Tobacco Day 2012 is “tobacco industry interference.” WHO is urging countries to put the fight against the tobacco industry at the heart of its efforts to control the global tobacco epidemic. In response, Alere Wellbeing has committed to helping at least 3,000 of the tobacco industry’s customers get one step closer to overcoming their deadly addiction for good.
“Alere Wellbeing joins the World Health Organization as a leader in the global movement for tobacco freedom for all,” said Ken Wassum, Associate Director of Clinical Development and Support for Alere Wellbeing. “The tobacco industry has increased its efforts to both confound and delay tobacco control in the United States and to sell its deadly products abroad. It continues to aggressively challenge the FDA in the implementation of evidence-based initiatives by the Center for Tobacco Products, including the adoption of pictorial health warnings on cigarette packaging. As the nation’s largest provider of tobacco quitline services, Alere Wellbeing is committed to promoting barrier-free access to evidence-based tobacco cessation care.”
“Alere Wellbeing has already helped more than 235,000 tobacco users in this year alone,” said Sandy Becker, President of Alere Wellbeing. “To celebrate our ongoing commitment to tobacco cessation and in recognition of World No Tobacco Day, we are challenging ourselves to conduct more than 3,000 live interventions on May 31. In over 25 years of helping tobacco users, this will be a record number for us.”
Tobacco use is one of the leading preventable causes of death globally, and is the number one cause of preventable death and disease in the United States. The global tobacco epidemic kills nearly 6 million people each year, more than 600,000 of whom are exposed to secondhand smoke. Unless countermeasures are enacted, tobacco use will kill up to 8 million people per year by 2030, according to the World Health Organization.
