Tag: Smoking

‘Gear Up’ Tackles College Enrollment Challenges And State Smoking Rates Lag Behind Nation, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, lung cancer and smoking rates in the state lag behind the rest of the country and aren’t showing any signs of improvement, according to a new report.

On this West Virginia Morning, lung cancer and smoking rates in the state lag behind the rest of the country and aren’t showing any signs of improvement, according to a new report. Emily Rice has more.

Also, in this show, colleges and universities in the state are working to face enrollment challenges head on. One element in that effort is the statewide “Gear Up” program, encouraging high school seniors to get ready for college and careers. Randy Yohe has more.

And Tuesday marked the 53rd anniversary of the Marshall University plane crash. Seventy-five people, football team players, coaches, staff, supporters and the flight crew perished returning from an away game at East Carolina. Every year, on this day, Marshall remembers the 75. Randy Yohe has our story.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

New Study Calls On West Virginians To Be Smoke Free

A West Virginia University professor is part of a team that is leading a national effort to help adults quit smoking.

A West Virginia University (WVU) professor is part of a team that is leading a national effort to help adults quit smoking.

Peter Giacobbi is a professor in the College of Applied Human Sciences and a member of the WVU School of Public Health. Giacobbi, in collaboration with research colleagues from the University of Arizona, the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York and WV First Choice Services have launched the Be Smoke Free project.

According to the West Virginia Division of Tobacco Prevention, about one in four West Virginians smoke cigarettes and more than 4,000 West Virginians die from smoking-related illnesses each year.

“Here in West Virginia, you know, the one thing that can really decrease smoking rates is making these products more expensive,” Giacobbi said. “And so that’s really a policy decision that our lawmakers have to really be focused on really taxing these products more. It has been shown that, that reduces rates the most.”

Until that happens, the goal of the Be Smoke Free program is to help smokers stop using tobacco and live healthier lives.

“It’s a six week study with six coaching phone calls, they get referred to our tobacco specialists who are actually physically located in Arizona,” Giacobbi said. “And they can get up to four weeks of nicotine patches or lozenges at no cost as part of this and up to $100 for completing the study.”

The team will recruit 1,200 smokers during the next three years to participate in the program, including 400 from West Virginia to participate in this study, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) after a successful pilot program.

“We’ve been successful with the pilot that we conducted that led to this bigger grant funded by NIH, to really make a rigorously controlled study to make stronger and more clear conclusions,” Giacobbi said. “It took us a year to plan this study and we’ve launched it in the past year.”

The Be Smoke Free project will work in coordination with the West Virginia Tobacco Quitline, a service that provides free telephone support to individuals trying to stop using tobacco products.

“I will say with smoking cessation, there are very high rates of relapse. And the best evidence that I know of out there combines coaching with the use of lozenges or nicotine patches, and these telephone quitlines work pretty well,” Giacobbi said. “Cold turkey can work for some people, but I think the scientific evidence out there shows that the combination of using nicotine patches or lozenges with telephone quitlines is one of the best ways to approach this.”

To learn more about the Be Smoke Free program or to enroll, visit the project website at https://besmokefreestudy.org, email besmokefree@arizona.edu, or call 520-621-0458.

Health Legislation, Wills And Estate Planning On This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, the state recently received some bad health grades from the American Lung Association. Appalachia Health News Reporter Emily Rice sat down with Del. Matthew Rohrbach, R-Cabell, who is also a doctor, to get his thoughts on the state of health in West Virginia and what the legislature can do to help.

On this West Virginia Morning, the state recently received some bad health grades from the American Lung Association. Appalachia Health News Reporter Emily Rice sat down with Del. Matthew Rohrbach, R-Cabell, who is also a doctor, to get his thoughts on the state of health in West Virginia and what the legislature can do to help.

Also, in this show, in last week’s installment of the radio series “Getting Into Their Reality: Caring For Aging Parents,” News Director Eric Douglas spoke with a funeral director on planning ahead. This week, he speaks with Charleston Attorney Franki Parsons about wills and estate planning and the problems that arise if you don’t have them when you die.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from West Virginia University, Concord University, and Shepherd University.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

Physician And Lawmaker Talks State Health Issues

On this episode of The Legislature Today, West Virginia often gets poor grades for the health of its citizens. Recently, the American Lung Association rated the state as failing when it comes to several categories relating to smoking cessation. WVPB’s Appalachia Health News Reporter Emily Rice sat down with Del. Matthew Rohrbach, R-Cabell, who is a practicing physician.

On this episode of The Legislature Today, West Virginia often gets poor grades for the health of its citizens. Recently, the American Lung Association rated the state as failing when it comes to several categories relating to smoking cessation. WVPB’s Appalachia Health News Reporter Emily Rice sat down with Del. Matthew Rohrbach, R-Cabell, who is a practicing physician.

Also, after hearing stories in the House of Delegates about health care provider misconduct and foster families not receiving their proper funds, a proposal to split the state Department of Health and Human Resources into three cabinet positions was up for a final vote Tuesday. Randy Yohe has the story and outcome.

A bill allowing the Foster Care Ombudsman more authority to protect children in state care passed the Senate unanimously. As Emily Rice explains, the bill has been through many amendments before Tuesday’s vote.

Finally, the American Heart Association was in the rotunda this Valentine’s Day promoting heart health. Chris Schulz has the story.

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The Legislature Today is West Virginia’s only television/radio simulcast devoted to covering the state’s 60-day regular legislative session.

Watch or listen to new episodes Monday through Friday at 6 p.m. on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Governor's Tobacco Task Force Requests $10 Million Less Than CDC Recommendation

Dr. Ayne Amjad, commissioner of the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health, and state health officer, recommends a $16.7 million budget for the governor's Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation Task Force.

Dr. Ayne Amjad, commissioner of the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health, and state health officer, recommends a $16.7 million budget for the governor’s Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation Task Force. That is $10 million less than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends.

The CDC ranked West Virginia 53rd in the country for smoking rates. According to the CDC, almost 24 percent of adults use tobacco in West Virginia, compared to the national average of 14 percent. According to the task force, West Virginia loses $1 billion annually in health care costs due to smoking, and a loss of $1.2 billion worth of production.

The task force was created through House Bill 4494 in 2020 with a budget just under $500,000. Its purpose was to collect data on tobacco use in West Virginia and develop advertising and programs to help with preventing tobacco use and assisting with cessation, or quitting, tobacco. These programs include the toll free Quitline, which received around 10,000 callers last year.

At the June legislative interim meeting of the Join Standing Committee on Health, Del. Barbara Evans Fleischauer, D-Monongalia, asked Amjad why the task force didn’t go with the CDC recommendation.

“To speak bluntly,” Amjad said. “We didn’t think proposing a $27 million budget would be looked as favorably upon as if we could cut it down to $16 million looking at the individual tasks.”

W.Va. Receives 'Failing' Grade In Tobacco Control In Annual Report

West Virginia received an “F” grade in the annual American Lung Association’s ‘State of Tobacco Control’ Report. The report highlights state expenditure on tobacco cessation programs, taxes and resident access to cessation services.

 

 

The report calls on West Virginia lawmakers to enact policies such as an increased tobacco tax and more funding for state prevention programs.

Tobacco, the authors write, remains the nation’s leading cause of preventable death and disease and West Virginia is particularly affected. According to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, annual tobacco-related deaths in West Virginia are around 3700. Comparatively, opioid-related deaths are around 900 a year. 

Yet tobacco use rates here are among the highest in the nation — for both adults and youth. And the current vaping epidemic is compounding the problem, they say. 

The report also calls out funding discrepancies. West Virginia received more than 235 million dollars from tobacco settlement payments and tobacco taxes, yet the state only funds control efforts at 7 percent of the level recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

 

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from Marshall Health and Charleston Area Medical Center.

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