Smoking quitline counselors operating from Roswell Park Cancer Institute saw a 10 percent bump in calls last month after a series of media ads sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control. The CDC ended a 12-week national ad campaign in mid-June, featuring profiles of former smokers living with the effects of smoking-related diseases. It was the first time a federal agency had developed and placed advertisements for a national tobacco education campaign.
Nationally, the campaign generated nearly 200,000 additional calls to 1-800-QUIT-NOW , a portal that links callers to their state quitlines, and more than 400,000 additional unique visitors to a federal website designed to help people quit smoking. The campaign resulted in a 10 percent increase in calls to the New York State Smokers’ Quitline during the 12-week period. Based at Roswell Park, the state program offers free smoking cessation services such as telephone coaching and free starter kits of nicotine replacement medications.
This spring the state Department of Health ran its own series of ads in conjunction with the CDC ads. More than 50,000 calls came into the New York State Smokers’ Quitline during March, April and May. The CDC called the initial results promising. CDC anticipates some 50,000 smokers will end their addiction as a result of the ad campaign. It is estimated this will result in an annual savings of approximately $70 million dollars in medical and productivity costs.
“These initial results suggest that the campaign will help even more people quit than we had hoped, exceeding our already high expectations,” said Dr. Thomas Frieden, CDC director. “More than two thirds of all smokers want to quit. People who smoke die sooner and live sicker. This campaign is saving lives and saving money.”
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