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Smokers' helpline should improve odds of quitting
(Date: May 1, 2000 Time: 11:30 am)

The Canadian Cancer Society is tackling smoking in Ontario through an innovative Smokers'  Helpline that provides information, support and referrals to local smoking cessation resources. "We're here to support them (smokers)," said Lorraine Lafrenière, a volunteer with the  Carleton unit of the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS), "not to lecture or put pressure on them. We recognize how difficult it is to quit." The Smokers' Helpline is aimed at both the 15% of smokers who have decided to quit and the 85% who haven't. Results from a pilot of the helpline  indicate that the quit rate among callers to the Smokers' Helpline are at least double the 5% to  8% typical of other self-help programs. Funded in part by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, the $1-million initiative is the first support line to be established province-wide. There are approximately 1.9 million daily smokers in Ontario. In Eastern Ontario, about 21% of people aged 12 and over are daily smokers. About half of these people, some 93 500 individuals, will likely die of a smoking-related illness. "This is an alarming statistic, made all the more tragic because these deaths are entirely preventable," says Lafrenière. Last year more than 750 000 Ontario smokers made at least one attempt to quit, but only 186 000 of these individuals were successful. The CCS hopes to improve these statistics. "We're launching the smokers' Helpline to help improve the odds," says Lafrenière.