Did you know that about 8,000 veterans are diagnosed with lung cancer each year?

And did you know that 5,000 veterans die from the disease per year?

That data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prompted VA Butler Healthcare to join with the American Cancer Society recently to help promote Thursday, Nov. 21, as the Great American Smokeout, a campaign that encourages people to quit smoking.

Karen Dunn, health promotion and disease prevention program manager for VA Butler Healthcare, said she knows that it takes much more than a day to quit smoking, but the campaign centered around Nov. 21 can raise awareness about the resources available to help local veterans quit.

“It’s important as a reminder every year because stopping smoking almost always requires multiple attempts with repeated intervention,” Dunn said in a Butler Eagle article by staff writer Eddie Trizzino. “The good thing about veterans with multiple quit attempts is we already know what hasn’t worked for them.”

It’s an important group to reach because, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, seven in 10 veterans who currently smoke report that they would like to quit.

But again, that doesn’t happen overnight.

This November, the local VA is recognizing this and wants to help veterans take the first step.

For more information on the Veterans Affairs’ smoking prevention programs, go to mentalhealth.va.gov/quit-tobacco.

— TL