September 16, 1998

Contact: Bonnie Widerburg, (971) 673-1282

Oregon Tobacco Prevention and Education Program Saving Money and Lives

(PORTLAND) Current efforts by the state to reduce tobacco-use by Oregonians will save $156 million and 600 lives, announced Oregon’s Director of Human Resources Gary Weeks.

"This program is a tremendous success," Weeks said. "In fact, we believe that this program is one of the most cost effective uses of public dollars to prevent disease and early death for Oregonians."

Figures from the Oregon Department of Revenue reveal that consumption of cigarettes by Oregonians has declined by 10% since the beginning of the anti-tobacco program.

"Last year, over 6,000 Oregonians died as a result of tobacco-use and secondhand smoke exposure," pointed out Elinor Hall administrator of the Oregon Health Services. These early deaths are entirely preventable and this program is helping to protect health, save lives and save all Oregonians money.

The Tobacco Prevention and Education Program is a comprehensive statewide program that combines outreach from community-based coalitions, school-based programs and a public awareness and education campaign.

"One of the most effective and visible aspects of this campaign has been the powerful, cutting-edge advertising which we have been running for the past six months," Hall said.

As part of the ongoing program evaluation, state officials assessed the extent to which the advertising messages have been seen and remembered by the general public. The results, Hall said, have been remarkable.

"Seventy-six percent of adults can recall one of our anti-tobacco advertisements, while more that eighty-five percent of teens can do the same," Hall said. "These figures are astonishing and rival the kind of recall that huge corporations pay vast sums of money to achieve."

To build on the success of the program, the state unveiled a new round of television and radio ads. The new ads focus on exposing the dangers of secondhand smoke and tobacco-use, using testimonial from effected individuals.

"All of this data proves that this program is successful," Weeks said. "And in order to continue this success and not lose ground we must continue to diligently attack this preventable problem using the best available methods."