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WMH, ACS sponsoring Smoking Cessation classes during April Wills Memorial Hospital and the American Cancer Society will sponsor Smoking Cessation classes April 4, 11, 18, and 25 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the WMH Library. These classes are in response to disturbing facts about the effects of smoking. Numerous reports have disclosed that smoking kills more people each year that alcohol, AIDS, car crashes, illegal drugs, murders and suicides combined. This does not include deaths caused by smoking related fires and the number of deaths each year associated with smokeless tobacco. Tobacco is the number one preventable cause of illness and death and exposure to secondhand smoke is the third leading cause of preventable illness and death in the United States. According to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, in Georgia, 20.9% of high school students are smokers, the number of kids under 18 who become daily new smokers is approximately 15,600; youth exposed to secondhand smoke at home is 423,000, and packs of cigarettes annually bought or smoked by youth is estimated to be 26.2 million. Although the adult smoking rate in Georgia has declined during the past three years to 20.1% or 1,305,800, the level of tobacco use is too high. Annual health costs related to tobacco is estimated at $2.07 billion with $494 million covered by the state Medicaid program. These equate to approximately $538 per household in state and federal tax burden from smoking-related government expenditures. These figures do not include the $2.93 billion losses in productivity each year due to smoking. People think tobacco products cause only lung cancer, however smoking effects the entire body. Exposure to secondhand smoke can cause serious illnesses and even death to the non-smoker. The effects of smokeless tobacco are just as harmful to the body as smoking a cigarette. No tobacco products are safe. In order to receive a discount on State employee health insurance, participants must attend all four classes. At the end of classes, certificates will be awarded.
For more information and reservations, please call 706-678-9212 or 706-678-9272.
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