Terrie, a North Carolina woman who developed oral and throat cancer as a result of smoking, is one of several former smokers featured in a national anti-smoking ad campaign. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Syracuse, N.Y. — A national ad campaign featuring a woman who speaks with an artificial voice box and other former smokers living with smoking-related diseases prompted about 1.6 million smokers to try quitting, according to a study released today.
More than 200,000 Americans quit smoking immediately following the three-month campaign in 2012, the study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows. Of those 200,000, about 100,000 are likely to quit permanently, according to the study published today in the Lancet.
These results exceed the campaign’s original goals of 500,000 quit attempts and 50,000 successful quits, the CDC said.
The ads starred people like Terrie, a former cheerleader from North Carolina who was diagnosed with oral cancer and throat cancer, caused by smoking, at age 40. She quit smoking after doctors removed her larnyx and inserted an artificial voice box in her throat.
In the ads, one of her tips to smokers is: “Record your voice for loved ones while you still can.”
The campaign was the first time a federal agency developed and placed paid advertisements for a national tobacco education campaign. The $54 million campaign encouraged people to call 1-800-QUIT-NOW, a toll-free number to access quit support across the country, or visit a quit-assistance website.
Calls to the quitline more than doubled during the campaign, according to the CDC.
Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States, killing more than 1,200 Americans every day, according to the CDC. More than 8 million Americans live with a smoking-related disease.
A second set of ads aired earlier this year and plans are under way for a new set of ads in 2014.
*This news story was resourced by the Oral Cancer Foundation, and vetted for appropriateness and accuracy.
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