Topic - city

JANUARY 17, 2013

There’s no better time to STOP smoking
Oxford County residents to receive free medication to help them quit
smoking
Oxford County Public Health & Emergency Services is once again teaming up with the Centre for
Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), to help residents quit smoking. The Smoking Treatment for
Ontario Patients (STOP) workshop offers residents counseling support and nicotine replacement
therapy (NRT) free of charge. STOP also focuses on ways to improve resident’s overall health to help
continue on a path to pursuing a healthy lifestyle.
For many smokers the cost of nicotine replacement products is a barrier to quitting. The evidence-based STOP program provides five weeks of free nicotine replacement therapy, a practical support for alleviation of nicotine withdrawal symptoms, which is known to help people stop smoking. Three STOP workshops are being held in Oxford County. Residents must pre-register for one of the three workshops in advance to secure their spot. Workshop dates:
January 24, 2013 – Tillsonburg March 7, 2013 – Ingersoll March 25, 2013 – Woodstock Registration information for each workshop is available at BACKGROUND
 The STOP Program is conducted by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and is funded by the Province of Ontario as part of its Smoke-Free Ontario Strategy.  Introduced in 2005, the STOP Program has already provided nicotine replacement therapy such as nicotine gum and patches, as well as bupropion and varenicline, free of charge, in addition to counseling support to an unprecedented 68,000 people from across Ontario.  Baseline questionnaires and follow-up surveys, spaced over six months post treatment will help the STOP Program researchers learn more about the long-term impact of providing nicotine replacement therapy and other smoking cessation aid free of charge to smokers Ontario-wide. To date, results for STOP participants have shown an improvement of at least two times the typical quit rates.  While smoking rates in Ontario have declined over the past twenty years, 1.6 million Ontarians continue to smoke and 16,000 die each year from the effects of commercial tobacco products. Therefore, provision of smoking cessation support to smokers in Ontario is strongly indicated. MEDIA CONTACT
Michael Torres CAMH Media Relations 416.595.6015 Melissa Poulin Communications & New Media Specialist 519.539.9800, ext. 3505 Mobile: 519.608.3404
ABOUT CAMH The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is Canada’s leading addiction
and mental health teaching hospital. Integrating clinical care, scientific research, education, policy
development and health promotion, CAMH transforms the lives of people impacted by mental health
and addiction issues.
ABOUT PUBLIC HEALTH & EMERGENCY SERVICES Oxford County Public Health & Emergency
Services seeks to promote and protect the health of Oxford County’s more than 100,000 residents.
The department’s services include family health, immunization, healthy living, infectious disease
prevention, sexual health, environmental health, emergency services, and other programs that
support healthy behaviours in a healthy environment. For more information, visit
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Source: http://www.oxfordcounty.ca/Portals/15/Documents/News%20Room/2013%20News%20releases/NR%20STOP%20workshops20130109.pdf