NGUOI VIET
Every day, many smokers repeat the mantra: “I am going to quit smoking. Tomorrow.”
|
Quitting is Easier with Help. |
And tomorrow comes. And goes. And they are still smoking.
The Asian Smokers’ Quitline wants to help.
According to the American Cancer Society, nearly 44 million Americans – or one in every five adults – smoke cigarettes. Another 15.4 million people were exposed to tobacco through cigars and pipes. Smoking increases the risk for cancer, heart disease, and stroke — which already are leading causes of death for Asian Americans, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.
The Asian Smokers’ Quitline is a no-cost service paid for by a grant from the CDC and headquartered at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego. Its website (
www.AsianSmokersQuitline.org) offers self-help materials, but counselors are available to offer telephone counseling to both smokers and family members. Counselors also can arrange for a smoker to receive a two-week supply of nicotine patches. Smokers who have used the Quitline services have been shown to be twice as successful in quitting smoking as those who don’t, according to the organization.
And if you don’t stop quitting for your health, why not for your children’s health?
According to the Asian Smokers’ Quitline, children of smokers are sick more often and miss more school.
“We want to encourage all smokers, especially those who are parents, to quit, not only for their own health, but for their children’s health and future success,” said Dr. Joann Lee, project manager of the Asian Smokers’ Quitline, in a statement from the organization. “Secondhand smoke can cause serious health problems in children. It can result in more frequent and severe asthma attacks, as well as ear and respiratory infections.”
According to the CDC, Asian Americans have among the lowest smoking rates among racial and ethnic groups in the U.S., with about one in every 10 Asian American adults smoking. But Vietnamese Americans have a much higher prevalence of smoking – 21.5 percent – than some other Asian groups, CDC statistics show. In fact, Vietnamese trail only Korean Americans (26.6 percent), and are followed by Filipinos (16.7 percent), Japanese (12.1 percent), Asian Indian (11.9 percent) and Chinese Americans (8.8 percent), according to the CDC.
Counselors are available by telephone to both smokers and family members weekdays from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Pacific time. Telephone services are offered in four Asian languages: Vietnamese, Korean, Cantonese and Mandarin. To reach a Vietnamese speaker at the center, call (800) 778-8440.