Snuff out Smoking — World Tobacco Day
This yearly acknowledgement on May 31 informs the public on the dangers of using tobacco, what the World Health Organization (WHO) is doing to fight the tobacco epidemic, and what people around the world can do to claim their right to healthy living and to protect future generations. Here is why this is so important:
- Globally, tobacco use causes eight million deaths per year — that’s one death every five seconds
- Of those eight million deaths, 600,000 are non-smokers who were exposed to secondhand smoke, and nearly two-thirds of the deaths occur in children.
- Smoking is the direct cause of one of every five deaths in the U.S., which translates to roughly 480,000 deaths annually, 1,300 deaths per day, 54 deaths per hour, or almost one death per minute.
- According to the 2019 National Youth Tobacco Survey, more than 5.3 million kids in the U.S. now use e-cigarettes — an increase of over 3 million in just two years.
If you are a smoker, join the WHO and take the pledge to quit today.
Don’t forget that your prescription plan benefits can help with smoking cessation medications. Please note that all smoking cessation products, whether they are over-the-counter or prescription, require a prescription from your doctor to be covered at 100% by the prescription drug plan.