Alberta Health Services marks National Non-Smoking Week

EDMONTON, AB - Encouraging tobacco users to quit and preventing young people from starting to smoke are the focus for National NonSmoking Week 2009 in Alberta.

Every year, more than 3,000 Albertans die from tobaccorelated causes. Tobacco use is the leading cause of disease, disability and premature death in the province. According to the 2002 Cost of Substance Abuse Survey, tobacco use also costs the Alberta economy $1.8 billionannually in lost productivity, direct and indirect healthcare expenses.

This year, Alberta Health Services' (AHS) campaign theme, What have you got to lose? is aimed at highlighting both the benefits of quitting and the importance of never starting to smoke.

From January 18 to 24, AHS and its many partners will be hosting a number of activities and events across Alberta in celebration of National NonSmoking Week (www.nnsw.ca/about.html). Some planned activities include school presentations, poster contests, local advertising campaigns and interactive displays.

Information on how to quit will also be distributed in pharmacies, health facilities and schools throughout the province and will provide tobacco users with the information and resources they need to develop a plan to quit smoking.

National NonSmoking Week, which annually takes place in the third week of January, was started in 1977 by the Canadian Council for Tobacco Control to call attention to the deadly effects of tobacco use. Every year, thousands of activities and events take place in communities across the country.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Melissa Lovatt
Alberta Health Services
Phone: 780-415-8879
Cell: 780-909-7059