Countywide effort encourages community to stop smoking

The Kane County Health Department is partnering with seven local health care agencies in Smoking Cessation Awareness Month. The campaign is titled "Kane County Quits."

"Kane County Quits" is a countywide effort encouraging the community to help put an end to smoking. The goal is to connect tobacco-users with the countless resources available just around the corner.

Resources include: consulting with your primary care physician/health care provider, calling the Illinois Tobacco Quitline at (866) QUIT-YES for free cessation counseling, utilizing online tools such as www.PlanMyQuit.com, and lastly, visiting the Kane County Health Department's tobacco webpage at www.kanehealth.com/tobacco_cessation.htm.

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death worldwide, and is responsible for 480,000 deaths per year in United States alone. Further, smoking causes chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung disease and diabetes. Chronic disease has been identified as one of Kane County's top health threats in the Health Department's Community Health Improvement Plan. By working toward reducing smoking rates in Kane County, it is one step closer to becoming the healthiest county in Illinois by 2030.

Kane County Quits Partners 2015 include: Pfizer. Rush-Copley, Presence Health, Northwestern Medicine, Advocate Sherman Hospital, Advocate Dreyer, Greater Elgin Family Care Center and VNA Health Care.

For more information on how to quit smoking, visit your local health care agency's webpage. For more information about the Kane County Health Department's tobacco program, visit www.kanehealth.com/tobacco_program.htm.