Fifty years after the release of the first Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health, Kane County is ready to join the celebration of the Great American Smokeout that takes place Thursday, Nov. 20, all across America.

In the course of those 50 years, remarkable progress has been made in Kane County in the battle against smoking and lung cancer.

For example, now only 12 percent of Kane residents report smoking, far below the state/national averages of 17 percent. Unfortunately, tobacco use still remains the leading preventable cause of disease, disability, and death in Kane County and throughout the United States.

If you’ve been thinking about quitting smoking, one way you can take part in the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout is by visiting Cadence Health, now part of Northwestern Medicine. On Nov. 20, visit an information table to trade-in your cigarettes, chewing tobacco, lighters and/or ashtrays for a Northwestern Medicine water bottle and smoking cessation information.

The event takes place at four locations: Central DuPage Hospital, Winfield; Delnor Hospital, Geneva; Cadence Cancer Center in Warrenville; and Cadence Cancer Center at Delnor Hospital, Geneva

Meanwhile, the Kane County Health Department’s tobacco program is addressing the problem from three sides: Smoking Cessations, Preventing youth from starting to smoke, and education and enforcement of the 2008 Smoke-Free Illinois Act.

For Cessation:  The Division of Health Promotion is conducting Quality Improvement Projects (PDCA) with Rush Copley, Cadence and the VNA. The purpose of this improvement project is to identify and begin to address the specific opportunities and barriers within clinical settings where at-risk clients are served in Kane County. These QI Projects (PDCA) are similar to the QI processes already being conducted by other KCHD sections.

For example:

• At VNA – The QI project is focused on low income smokers in Kane County
• At Rush Copley – The QI project is located at the Cancer Care Center
• At Cadence – The QI project is focused on parents with small children in the Vaccine Clinic

For Prevention: Youth prevention  through the REALITY program. This program empowers youth to provide peer education and advocacy to reduce tobacco use in Kane County Through the Reality Kane program, Teen Advisory Panels (TAP) will educate their peers and strengthen community based tobacco prevention efforts among the youth of Kane County.

The program’s goal is to provide a peer-led forum to educate teens on the health effects of tobacco use, second-hand smoke and work on advocacy and policy initiatives. Four youth groups in Kane County (Youth Leadership Academy in Elgin, Lawrence Hall Youth Services in Elgin, Boys & Girls Club of Dundee Township in Carpentersville and East Aurora High School Snowball Chapter in Aurora) take part. Reality teens plan, promote and implement special events for the Great American Smoke Out in November. The events include a media advocacy initiative and counter-marketing effort.

Smoke-free Illinois Act:  As of Jan. 1, 2008, the Smoke free Illinois Act requires that public places and places of employment must be completely smoke free inside and within 15 feet from entrances, exits, windows that open and ventilation intakes.

The purpose of the act is to protect residents, workers, and visitors from the harmful and hazardous effects of secondhand smoke.

Inhaling secondhand smoke causes lung cancer and coronary heart disease in healthy nonsmoking adults. It increases the risk of serious respiratory problems in children. Residents can report a violation  by calling 630-444-3300 or  filing a complaint electronically at the KCHD website HERE.

For more information on KCHD’s efforts at smoking cessations, prevention and the Smoke-Free Illinois Act, please visit our website HERE

SOURCE: Kane County Health Department’s Health Matters newsletter