NYS Smokers’ Quitline Launches Enhanced Website
The NYS Smokers’ Quitline, headquartered at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, NY, recently launched a fully updated, redesigned and mobile-ready website www.nysmokefree.com Enhanced visuals, easier-to-read text and navigation that is more intuitive will help visitors quickly find the latest resources on tobacco cessation.
The NYS Smokers’ Quitline is a service of the NYS Department of Health. It is one of the first and busiest state quitlines in the nation, and has responded to more than 2.5 million calls since its inception in 1999. Both the Quitline and website encourage tobacco users to talk with their healthcare providers and access available Medicaid or health insurance benefits for stop-smoking medications. All NYS residents can call 1-866-NY-QUITS (1-866-697-8487) for coaching and resources, free of charge, seven days a week beginning at 9 a.m.
“Cigarette smoking causes approximately 28,000 deaths statewide each and every year. Countless New Yorkers have used the Quitline to help them quit smoking. Besides the support of our trained Quit Coaches, it’s critical for the Quitline to offer an effective 24/7 online resource in the fight against tobacco,” said Andrew Hyland, PhD, Chair of Health Behavior at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and Director of the Quitline. “Our website www.nysmokefree.com will greatly help both those looking to break nicotine addiction and healthcare professionals who assist tobacco-using patients in the quest to achieve and maintain tobacco-free lives.” A new website online newsroom will also help healthcare providers and the media stay informed about the latest tobacco cessation news in New York State.
The NYS Tobacco Control Program (TCP) began work in January 2000 and built its foundation of evidence-based strategies and best practices from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The TCP includes a network of statewide and local contractors who implement key programmatic strategies to de-normalize tobacco and reduce its use. The NYS Smokers’ Quitline, Health Systems for a Tobacco-Free NY, and Advancing Tobacco Free Communities comprise the TCP. Advancing Tobacco Free Communities – Delaware, Otsego and Schoharie Counties (ATFC-DOS) educates the community and decision makers, mobilizes community members around the problems that tobacco addiction causes in local communities, and helps decision makers understand the types of choices that they have to address these problems. For more information about ATFC-DOS’s initiatives, visit www.gotobaccofreedos.org or contact 518-255-5364.