NEW BRUNSWICK – A new report by researchers at the UMDNJ-School of Public Health calls upon health professionals to do more to help their patients quit smoking. The report summarizes the massive health benefits of stopping smoking, identifies effective treatments for tobacco dependence and encourages health professionals to assess and treat tobacco addiction as consistently and persistently as they do such chronic illnesses as hypertension or diabetes. The article appears on the eve of the Nov. 19 Great American Smokeout and is available online in The International Journal of Clinical Practice ( http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122685385/abstract ).

“On average, each year of smoking after age 35 shortens a persons life by about three months. So it is important that smokers dont delay quitting, and that health professionals make a commitment on the Great American Smokeout to ask all their patients if they use tobacco and to initiate treatment for tobacco dependence in those who are interested in quitting,” said Jonathan Foulds, PhD, a professor at the UMDNJ-School of Public Health and one of the reports authors.

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Since the update release of the 2008 US PHS Clinical Practice Guideline, several new tools have been developed and are now available online. Click here to access these tools.

October 2009 – The DC Cancer Consortium, (DCCC) in partnership with the DC Department of Health, has awarded the American Lung Association of the District of Columbia (ALADC) with an $850,000 grant to sustain the District’s free Quitline program, 800-QUIT-NOW, for DC residents.

Through this grant, ALADC will continue to provide the free nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and counseling program of the DC Tobacco Free Families Campaign (DCTFF). Spanish-speaking residents are still encouraged to call 202-333-4488 to access these services.

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October 19, 2009 – More than 150 scientists and public health advocates joined together to discuss the implications and future of menthol tobacco products – which research has shown to have enormous appeal among youth and African Americans. Read full article.

This October, the American Legacy Foundation’s Schroeder Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy received a $977,346 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study the effectiveness of Internet-based mobile phone support for the DC Quitline, 800-QUIT-NOW. Read full article.