Peterborough, ON – Dean Del Mastro, Member of Parliament for Peterborough Riding, today announced an investment of $263,933.00 in the Peterborough County-City Health Unit’s smoking cessation project on behalf of Health Minister Tony Clement. The funding will allow the health unit to establish comprehensive smoking cessation programs for smokers in the area.

“I’m pleased that Peterborough residents will benefit from this community-based cessation initiative,” said Minister Clement. “We know that many adults in the area want to quit smoking – these new programs will help them do that.”

This health unit project will focus on high-risk groups including: pregnant women; patients with chronic diseases; and aboriginal populations at Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nation. The new programs will use motivational interviewing, group counselling, self-help and telephone support services.

“In 2006, seven hundred people called the Peterborough County-City Health Unit to ask for help to quit smoking,” said MP Del Mastro. “We desperately need programs like these.”

The Peterborough County-City Health Unit is a leader in promoting and protecting the health of
individuals living in the city of Peterborough and the largely rural surrounding county. The health unit will work with Primary Care Services of Peterborough, the Peterborough Regional Health Centre, Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nation, and the Peterborough Family Resource Centre to establish the new smoking cessations programs.

Smoking remains the most preventable cause of disease and premature death in Canada. More than 37,000 people die prematurely each year in Canada due to tobacco use and at least 800 non-smokers die every year from exposure to second-hand smoke.

For more information on Health Canada’s tobacco control efforts, please visit Health Canada’s Go Smoke-Free website: www.gosmokefree.gc.ca