CONCORD, N.H., April 10 /PRNewswire/ -- A campaign aimed at raising awareness about the dangers of tobacco use hits New Hampshire airwaves and newspapers the week of April 15th in support of the New Hampshire Tobacco Prevention and Control's (TPCP) con

"Our immediate goal is to raise awareness about the fact that tobacco use is dangerous and is killing almost 2,000 New Hampshire residents annually and wasting over 102 million taxpayer dollars in preventable health care costs each year. A comprehensive tobacco prevention and control program is vital if New Hampshire is to reduce tobacco consumption and prevent the totally unacceptable public exposure to second hand smoke," said Katie Dunn, Director of the Office of Community and Public Health. TPCP previewed the first set of ads Wednesday at a press conference at Hermano's, a smoke-free Concord, NH restaurant. The initial ads, targeted at raising awareness about the dangers of tobacco use and secondhand smoke, are scheduled to begin April 15th. Later ads will focus on "Take It Outside," an effort to urge smokers to protect children from secondhand smoke by "taking it outside." The focus in the ads will then shift to a "quitline" - a type of telephone counseling service to help people quit using tobacco. The state is following a comprehensive tobacco plan that was prepared in 2000 by experts including tobacco control advocates, state agency staff and the US Centers for Disease Control. In this plan advertising works together with other organized efforts, including but not limited to community and school-based programs, tobacco cessation programs and enforcement efforts. "We looked at the successful states, and we found that there is no single way to reduce tobacco use," said Dunn. "We learned it takes a mix of advertising, law enforcement, quitlines and community involvement, so that's the approach we are taking in New Hampshire." Oversight of the criteria for expenditures from the Tobacco Use Prevention Fund is provided by the Tobacco Use Advisory Committee, a statutory watchdog created by the Legislature in 2000. Funding for the comprehensive plan comes from grant funds from the CDC, the American Legacy Foundation and funds from the state Tobacco Use Prevention Fund. "We are fortunate that New Hampshire puts some of the money that comes to the state as a result of the master tobacco settlement agreement towards tobacco prevention," notes Dunn. "It allows us to match about $1.6 million in grant funds every year. Without the state match we stand to lose these dollars." A cornerstone of the comprehensive effort is evaluation. "Unless we measure our progress," stated Dunn, "we will not be able to insure that we are spending money wisely. In a well managed program, projects are thought through, given a chance to work and then results are measured to make sure that we are achieving expected results." Today there are over 15 funded tobacco prevention coalitions working statewide to reduce smoking rates. Other projects that TPCP expects to launch immediately as part of the comprehensive program include conducting a statewide survey of the tobacco use and habits of adults and a tobacco "Quitline" to offer telephone and internet assistance to tobacco users who decide to stop using tobacco products.

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