London, ON — Sticking to your New Year’s resolutions can be challenging, especially if you’ve resolved to give up smoking. To help support those trying to quit, the Middlesex-London Health Unit is involved with several of its partners in initiatives which have the common goal of freeing people from their addictions to tobacco: National Non-Smoking Week starts this Sunday, January 15th; the annual Driven to Quit Challenge will be launched on Monday, January 16th; and there are still spaces available for the STOP Workshops January 24th and 25th in London and Strathroy respectively.

“Breaking a tobacco addiction is a huge first step towards living a healthier life; that’s why we want to give smokers as much help as we can,” says Linda Stobo, Program Manager with the Health Unit’s Chronic Disease Prevention and Tobacco Control Team. “Whether you’re ready to quit for a day or take up the challenge of a month without tobacco, or you’d like access to free nicotine replacement products, we’re here to support you.”

First established by the Canadian Council for Tobacco Control in 1977, National Non-Smoking Week is one of the country’s most important and longest-running public health efforts. Drawing together agencies and individuals at the federal, provincial, regional and local levels, the campaign aims to help those who smoke to quit, to prevent those who don’t smoke from ever lighting up, and to highlight the tactics used by tobacco companies to convince people to use their products. This year’s theme is “Breaking up is hard to do”.

The annual Driven to Quit Challenge is open to Ontario residents, 19 years of age and older who smoke or use tobacco products. Those who take up the challenge and remain smoke-free for the month of March have the chance to win a 2012 Ford Fusion hybrid or Ford Edge, one of two $5,000 dream vacation packages, or one of seven regional prizes of $2,000 in cash.

The STOP Program provides five weeks’ worth of “the patch” free to local smokers who want to quit. Registration is still open for the STOP workshop being held January 24 at the Beacock Library branch from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m. and on January 25, from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. at the Gemini Sportsplex in Strathroy. Call 519-663-5317, ext. 2673 to see if you're eligible to participate.

Media contact:
Dan Flaherty, Communications Manager, Middlesex-London Health Unit, 663-5317 ext.2469

Spokesperson:
Linda Stobo, Program Manager, Chronic Disease Prevention and Tobacco Control