The American Cancer Society joins the American Legacy Foundation Launch of Great Start

American Cancer Society
Tuesday, 4 December 2001

First Nationwide Campaign to Help Pregnant Women Quit Smoking; Toll-free, 24-hour nationwide "Quitline" provides immediate counseling and support resources

The American Cancer Society, the nation's leading voluntary health agency, has agreed to collaborate and provide support of the American Legacy Foundation's "Great Start" program, by providing telephone-based counseling services for pregnant women interested in kicking their dangerous smoking habits.

The American Cancer Society has developed the capability and capacity to provide free, science-based telephone counseling – available 24 hours a day. Trained American Cancer Society smoking cessation counselors will provide assistance to pregnant smokers from the Society's extensive National Cancer Information Center call center operations – which handle more than 1.2 million calls a year.

The "Great Start" Quitline counseling sessions are underwritten by the American Legacy Foundation. The toll-free number, available beginning today, is 1-866-66-START (1-866-667-8278).

"The American Cancer Society is further demonstrating its commitment to helping people quit smoking through our partnership with the American Legacy Foundation on the Great Start program," says John R. Seffrin, Ph.D., the American Cancer Society's national Chief Executive Officer. "Our end goal with Great Start is a healthier life for expectant mothers and a much better, healthier beginning to the lives of their babies. Only our organization has the call center capacity, reach and counseling resources to support Great Start."

Great Start has the support of a coalition of women state leaders, including First Ladies representing 18 states. Many of these leaders will appear in national Great Start television advertising that begins running in their states today. The advertising will air nationwide beginning in January.

In addition to the Quitline and the television ads, the Great Start campaign includes:

- An educational booklet that complements the counseling sessions, developed by Smoke-Free Families, a program supported by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that works to improve smoking cessation rates during pregnancy.

- A video for pregnant smokers that will be produced by the Entertainment Industry Foundation and the I Am Your Child Foundation.

- A Web site at americanlegacy.org

This year, more than 400,000 deaths will be attributable to smoking. To date, the only scientifically proven way to avoid disease risk altogether is to stop smoking. The availability of smoking cessation programs – such as Great Start – are of vital importance in helping people get the help they need to quit, and many of these programs are often reliant on legislation and insurance coverage.

For more information, or to contact American Cancer Society, see their website at: www.cancer.org