Summit in NYC Will Help More Workers in New York State to Quit for Good

Free Summit to Increase Access to Smoking-Cessation Programs in the Workplace.

BUFFALO, NY — The last of three statewide ActionToQuit summits is coming to New York City Wednesday, December 1. Free to attend, this collaborative effort with the New York State Smokers’ Quitline, which is funded by the New York State Department of Health, will bring local, regional and statewide businesses and health plans together. Input from these broad-based forums will be used to develop a model plan that will help employers across the state to provide smoking-cessation resources for their employees.

Among the organizations planning to participate are the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, Corning Inc., The Institute for Family Health and the New York Business Group on Health.

“Expanding the availability of comprehensive smoking cessation across New York State health plans is key to reducing the prevalence of smoking, fostering a healthier population and taking advantage of one of the most cost-effective strategies for controlling the rising cost of health care,” E. Ripley Forbes, Director of Government Affairs at the Partnership for Prevention, who will give a keynote address at the Summit. The New York State Smokers’ Quitline is spearheading the New York State ActionToQuit project, which is funded by a Partnership for Prevention award. The goal of the summits is to set the framework for having cessation treatment coverage provided as a core benefit through all New York State health plans, ensuring that all commercially insured and Medicaid-insured New York smokers will have access to cessation treatment for their quit attempts. Smoking-related healthcare costs and lost productivity total $14.2 billion annually in New York State.

The daylong NYC summit will be held December 1 from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the Graduate Center/CUNY, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. Earlier ActionToQuit summits were held in Buffalo and Albany this fall. As part of the second phase of the initiative, grants (including mini-grants to individual businesses) will be awarded to implement best practices statewide and nationwide.

For more information, go to http://www.nysmokefree.com/NYSAction/PublicPage1.aspx.

The mission of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is to understand, prevent and cure cancer. Roswell Park, founded in 1898, was one of the first cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and remains the only facility with this designation in Upstate New York. The Institute is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers; maintains affiliate sites; and is a partner in national and international collaborative programs. For more information, visit Roswell Park’s website at http://www.roswellpark.org, call 1-800-ROSWELL (1-800-767-9355) or email AskRoswell@Roswellpark.org.

Editor’s note: Businesses and health plans interested in attending the free ActionToQuit summit can reserve a spot by calling Patricia Bax at 716-531-3556.