TENNESSEE (WJHL) — This week marks the Volunteer State’s 8th Annual ‘Tennessee Quit Week’, a campaign that aims to inspire Tennesseans to live healthier lives by ditching tobacco.
According to a release by the Tennessee Department of Health, Feb. 19 – Feb. 24 is Tennessee Quit Week. The week-long campaign serves to increase partnerships across public and private sectors in order to educate Tennesseans on the harms of tobacco use, the release said.
“In Tennessee, 31 lives are lost each day as a direct result of smoking,” said Tennessee Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey, MD, MBA, FAAP. “In addition to these tragic early deaths, tobacco use costs our state upward of six billion dollars each year in lost productivity and health care costs, preventable losses that hurt the prosperity of our state and those who live and work here.”
This year’s theme is “It’s Quittin’ Time in Tennessee”, according to the release.
The Tennessee Department of Health is highlighting the state’s ‘Tobacco QuitLine’ this week–a free resource to the public. The QuitLine offers free coaching and free nicotine patches to those eligible, according to the release. The Tennessee QuitLine can be accessed for free by calling 1-800-QUIT-NOW or by visiting tnquitline.com.
More information on Tennessee Quit Week and resources available to the public can be found at TN.gov/health.
