AHS celebrates National Non-Smoking Week

NORTH ZONE  — National Non-Smoking Week runs Jan. 17 to 23, and Alberta Health Services (AHS) is partnering with communities to raise awareness of tobacco cessation services.

This month, the QuitCore Tobacco Cessation Cancer Support Group will begin a virtual program. For patients with cancer, Virtual QuitCore is a free group support program that provides Albertans (18+) with the tools and strategies they need to quit/reduce smoking commercial tobacco or other forms of tobacco.

The program consists of a set of six 90-minute online virtual sessions guided by trained facilitators. The first session runs from Jan. 26 to March 2, from 7:30-9 p.m. on Tuesday evenings. A second session will run March 10 to April 21 from 10:30 a.m. to Noon, on Wednesday mornings.

A QuitCore Support Group session, open to all Albertans (18+), will begin Jan. 27 and run to March 3 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. (Wednesday afternoons). These sessions are offered on a secure Zoom platform.

For information and to register for any of these sessions, contact the AlbertaQuits helpline at 1-866-710-7848.

Please visit www.albertaquits.ca for more information on free tobacco cessation services and resources available to residents in AHS North Zone. These include resources to quit smoking and vaping during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reducing and stopping commercial tobacco use has multiple health benefits for all Albertans. People who quit substantially reduce their risk of heart disease, lung cancer, chronic lung disease and other tobacco-related illnesses. The health benefits of stopping start right away and reducing and stopping is more successful with help.

According to Statistics Canada, in 2019:

• 15 per cent of Canadians smoked regularly, a decrease from 16 per cent in 2018.
• 15 per cent of Canadians aged 15 and older had tried an e-cigarette, an increase from
• 13 per cent in 2015.
• The increase in use of e-cigarettes has been the greatest among youth and young adults with 34 per cent of students in grades 7-12 reporting they had ever tried a vaping product and 20 per cent reported using them in the last 30 days. This is an increase from 10 per cent in 2016-17.

An annual event across Canada for more than 30 years, National Non-Smoking Week aims to raise awareness about the health risks of tobacco, in all its forms, as it provides education on the resources and support services available for those who wish to reduce or quit tobacco use.

Alberta Health Services is the provincial health authority responsible for planning and delivering health supports and services for more than four million adults and children living in Alberta. Its mission is to provide a patient-focused, quality health system that is accessible and sustainable for all Albertans.