Archive for Thursday, December 31, 2009
Iowa doubles its offer to help smokers quit
The Iowa Department of Public Health
hopes to capitalize on the surprising number of smokers who vow to
drop the habit on New Year’s Day.
Those who commit to their resolution – and anyone else who calls
the department’s “Quitline” – get a free four-week supply of
nicotine patches, gum or lozenges until Jan. 31 as part of the
department’s outreach to smokers. That’s double the amount the
department offers the rest of the year.
“We always get more calls in January, even without the extra
patch benefit,” said Bonnie Mapes, who leads the state’s tobacco
use prevention effort. “We know if we provide these services in
January, we’re more likely to get more people.”
It’s a tactic the Department of Public Health’s Division of
Tobacco Use Prevention and Control used last year from New Year’s
Day until Feb. 28. Due to a tighter budget this year, the division
is only offering it for a month.
Iowa ranks 29th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia in
its rate of adult smoking, according to data from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. Iowa’s adult smoking rate was 18.8
percent in 2008. That’s down from 19.8 percent in 2007.
The CDC counts smokers as those who have reported ever smoking
at least 100 cigarettes and who currently smoke every day or on
some days. In 2008, the lowest was Utah with 9.2 percent, and the
highest was in West Virginia, at 26.6 percent.
Quitline Iowa, established in January 2008, received its highest
volume of calls in its first month of service – more than 6,000 in
all. Its second-highest total was in January 2009, when more than
3,700 people called.
Callers get free nicotine medication, and are also offered
counseling services.
Through the University of Northern Iowa, the Division of Tobacco
Use Prevention and Control tracks the success rate of those who
quit after six months and a year. Mapes said that those who try to
quit “cold turkey” succeed about 5 percent of the time, while
those who use medication and counseling have a 20 percent success rate.
In its pitch to get Iowans off cigarettes, the division is
highlighting the financial benefits of dropping the habit. A
release from the Department of Public Health estimates that after a
month of not buying cigarettes at $5.18 per pack, “most smokers
will have saved enough to buy a Blu-ray disc player or 60 gallons
of gas.”
“People’s finances are on the tips of their tongues right now,
and their long-term health may not be,” said Quitline Iowa
coordinator Jeremy Whitaker. “When about 5 percent of your take
home pay is spent on cigarettes, it’s a big piece and it adds up
pretty quickly.”
Whitaker said it may be fashionable to appeal to people’s
wallets now, but most people still quit for health reasons.
Smoking in Iowa is costlier and less convenient, thanks to
several factors: a federal tax increase of 62 cents a pack this
year that led manufacturers to raise their prices; a $1-per-pack
increase in the state cigarette tax in 2007; and a statewide
smoking ban in 2008.
The Division of Tobacco Use Prevention and Control is also
working on its outreach. Whitaker said internal estimates show
about 52 percent of smokers in Iowa have heard of the Quitline.
Ultimately, Whitaker said the goal is to get people aware, but
not necessarily to get more callers.
“Our audience is shrinking, so that’s a good thing,” Whitaker
said. “As adult smoking decreases, we’re going to have fewer calls
and that’s OK.”
———-
On the Net:
Quitline Iowa: http://www.quitlineiowa.org/