Madison County community tobacco survey data and lung cancer assessment recommendations presented on Great American SmokeOut

On Nov. 15, at a joint press conference for the Great American SmokeOut, Bridges Tobacco Prevention Program/ Reality Check of Madison, Oneida and Herkimer Counties released the results of their 2018 Madison County Adult Community Tobacco Survey; and the Madison County Health Department presented their recent assessment of the Current Policies, Systems, and Environmental Conditions Regarding Tobacco Use in Madison County.

The assessment, presented by Alexander Coyle, Health Statistician for the Madison County Department of Health, looked at lung cancer in Madison County; defined policy, system, and environmental change; reviewed the results; and provided recommendations.

The Community Tobacco Survey findings show that there is strong support for the recommendations in the Madison County Health Department’s assessment, including a large majority who favor having rental leases be required to state if smoking is prohibited on the premises, and support for a policy that would prohibit the sale of tobacco within walking distance of schools.

Other recommendations include increasing the minimum age to buy tobacco to 21, for which a Madison County Board of Health resolution and law have been drafted for the consideration of the Madison County Board of Health and Human Services.

Of the 400 Madison County adults who answered the phone survey, 88 percent support a policy that would prohibit smoking in the entryways of public buildings and workplaces, including 71 percent of current smokers. The survey found that 60 percent of Madison County adults work where smoking is prohibited on the entire grounds of their workplace, up from 45 percent in 2008.

The full Survey report is available online at www.bridgescouncil.org/tobacco. To find out more about work being done to reduce the burden of tobacco in New York State visit tobaccofreenys.org.

The full Lung Cancer report is available online at www.healthymadisoncounty.org (search “Lung Cancer”) http://bit.ly/MClungcancerprofile.

By martha

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