Organization prompts lung cancer prevention

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month -- an opportunity to reflect on the terrible toll that lung cancer takes on Wisconsin families every year.

To honor those taken by lung cancer and to prevent future deaths, the Western Wisconsin Working for Tobacco Free Living Coalition (W3TFL) is reminding tobacco users that free resources are available to help them quit.

Lung cancer is now the number-one cause of cancer death for both men and women, according to the 2014 Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health. The report also shows that almost nine out of 10 lung cancers are caused by smoking. Another startling finding from the report is that smokers today are more likely to develop lung cancer than those of 50 years ago.

While addiction can take a powerful hold on tobacco users, Hagen stressed that it can be beaten with the help of free resources. The Pierce County Health Department and the W3TFL encourages individuals who smoke or use other tobacco products to call the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line at 1-800-QUIT NOW for free assistance. In addition to receiving personal coaching, Quit Line callers can also receive a starter pack of quit smoking medications.

“The Evidence is clear. The combination of quit smoking counseling and FDA-approved medications like; nicotine gum, patches, and lozenges is the most effective way to successfully quit! And both counseling and medications are available through Wisconsin’s Tobacco Quit Line,” Hagen said.

Another way to reduce lung cancer from smoking is to keep tobacco out of our youth’s hands so they do not start using. Pierce County participates in the WI WINS, a program is designed to give recognition to businesses that deny youth access to tobacco.

For more on local tobacco prevention control efforts, visit the W3TFL website: www. W3TFL.org and like them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/W3TFL.