Danbury Hospital Delivers

 Anti-Smoking Message To Schools

DANBURY — The American Cancer Society (ACS) sponsors the Great American Smokeout each year on the third Thursday in November. The event, which began in the early 1970s and caught on nationwide since 1977, challenges people to stop using tobacco and raises awareness of the many effective ways there are today to help stop smoking for good. Specifically, the goal is to help smokers quit cigarettes for at least one day, in hopes they will quit forever.

Danbury Hospital has collaborated with the ACS for the past several years to help provide antitobacco awareness campaigns to local schools districts. Marianne Mitchell, an advanced practice registered nurse and coordinator and instructor of Danbury Hospital’s “Quit Now” comprehensive smoking cessation program, presented lectures during the month of November regarding the dangers of smoking to more than 1,300 school children in grades 4 through 8 in Danbury, Brookfield, and Newtown.

“It was a hectic month,” said Ms Mitchell, “but it was exciting to see the great response we received from the kids. They began to see the importance of living their lives smoke free and learned how to help those around them who still smoke get help.”

According to the ACS, cigarette smoking accounts for at least 30 percent of all cancer deaths and quitting can reduce the risk of having lung cancer and other smoking-related cancers. Fortunately, the past 27 years have seen tremendous strides in changing attitudes about smoking, in understanding the addiction, and in learning how to help people quit. Today, states with strong tobacco control laws are now reaping the fruits of their labor. They have markedly lowered smoking rates and fewer people are dying of lung cancer, according to a 2003 report in Cancer Causes and Control.

For information regarding the dangers of smoking community program presentations, or to learn more about Danbury Hospital’s “Quit Now” comprehensive smoking cessation program, call Marianne Mitchell at 731-8732.