A U.S. healthcare accreditor has announced plans to require hospitals to screen and treat for patients for tobacco use.

The tobacco screening and treatment plans were announced today by the Partnership for Prevention, and released by the Joint Commission, an independent, not-for-profit organization that accredits and certifies more than 19,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. 

The new certification measures will require participating hospitals to screen all inpatients for tobacco, provide counseling and pharmacologic treatment to tobacco users, and provide limited follow-up after discharge.

Partnership for Prevention provided the original funding for development and pilot testing of the measure set. Partnership’s ActionToQuit initiative advocates that all hospitals and health systems in the nation contribute to the public’s health by making tobacco cessation a priority. 

Tobacco screening and treatment for all patients is currently the practice in some hospitals. It is not a routine procedure, however, in spite of wide agreement that treatment to help patients quit is both effective and cost-effective. Hospitalization provides an ideal opportunity to help tobacco users quit. 

The Partnership for Prevention reports that although this is a significant step forward for promoting efforts to help people quit tobacco use in the United States, there is much more work to be done before all hospitals, health centers, and addiction treatment facilities establish this as a standard practice.  

To view the measure set, visit the Joint Commission website and look for Specifications Manual version 4.0:

The four tobacco measures have been extracted and can be found here:

TOB-1
TOB-2
TOB-3
TOB-4 

Joint Commission accreditation and certification is recognized nationwide as a symbol of quality that reflects an organization’s commitment to meeting certain performance standards. 

How old are the people who die from smoking?

In this video by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the story of one man brings home how young a woman can be when her life is taken by smoking.

Rick Stoddard explains how his wife, Marie, died at age 46 from lung cancer caused by smoking cigarettes. 

Stoddard's mission is to tell as many youth and adults as possible across America about the dangers of tobacco use.

The video also reminds us that it's not only those whose lives are taken by smoking who lose out: Stoddard's wife died, and he lives to grieve her loss.

Each year, 2,200 Nebraskans die from their own smoking, leaving behind loved ones and friends. Stoddard's message is a compelling reminder of why the Nebraska effort to promote tobacco free kids and support efforts to help Nebraskans quit smoking and quit tobacco use is so critical.

Nebraskans who have lost a loved one to tobacco use or who suffer because of smoking or tobacco use can share their story, become a member of Nebraskans ACT, and help promote tobacco free kids and help Nebraskans in their efforts to quit smoking and quit tobacco use.

As of this week, The Nebraska Medical Center Campus is tobacco-free. Kudos to The Nebraska Medical Center for its leadership in encouraging staff, students and patients to live tobacco-free lives.

Smoking and the use of other tobacco products is not permitted on campus or any other property The Nebraska Medical Center and UNMC Physicians owns, leases or controls effective March 21. UNMC has been tobacco-free for more than a year.

"As health-care organizations, we are excited to set the example for a healthy community," President and CEO Glenn Fosdick said in a statement released by The Nebraska Medical Center. "To many, this will be welcomed as a long-awaited and overdue event.

"Our message is not that everyone must stop smoking. However, as a health-care entity, we clearly cannot support the dangers posed to the health of our patients, staff or visitors."

The Nebraska Medical Center is offering free classes for employees who want to quit smoking or quit tobacco use.

Being a light or occasional smoker makes it no easier to quit smoking than being a heavy smoker, according to research released this week.

"Our understanding of how to get people to quit smoking has been based on those who were the heaviest smokers, that is, those who smoked a pack a day or more," said lead researcher Dennis Trinidad of Claremont (CA) Graduate University's School of Community and Global Health. "Now, as the smoking population shifts to include more light smokers, we may need to look for better ways to help them stop."

This new research runs counter to the belief that light smokers have an easy time in quitting. The findings were published in the April issue ofthe American Journal of Public Health.

"We need to get ahead of the wave," Trinidad said. "Light smokers may not even view themselves as addicted, but their risks for health complications are still much higher than for somebody who doesn't smoke."

Partnering with Trinidad on the study were researchers from University of California at San Francisco, University of California at San Diego, and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The group based its findings on data from the US Census Bureau, which surveyed residents on their smoking habits in partnership with the National Cancer Institute.

High school students from Doniphan-Trumbull and Heartland Lutheran high schools will be passing out cessation materials including Quit Now cards. Hy-Vee in Grand Island is offering an in-store incentive to customers who throw away their tobacco products.

These activities are happening through a partnership for Kick Butts Day between Tobacco Free Hall County and Hy-Vee in Grand Island. The event will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 23, at the Grand Island Hy-Vee.

Kick Butts Day is a day of activism that empowers youth to take action against tobacco use at more than 2,000 events from coast to coast. Kick Butts Day was initiated in 1995 by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. 

This year the Hall County-area youth will focus on educating customers about the hazardous effects of second- and third-hand smoke especially in multi-unit housing, where children have an increase exposure through common ventilation. This can lead to increasing experiences of upper respiratory infections, asthma and inner ear infections, as well as more missed school days.

In 2011, the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids is considered one of the country’s largest nongovernmental initiatives, funded entirely without contributions from the government or tobacco industry. The Campaign’s mission is to make sure youth are not exposed to tobacco products, thus limiting deadly addiction.

Nebraska Teens to Take on Tobacco
Amanda Mortensen, project coordinator of No Limits Nebraska, told 10/11 News this week that about 90 percent of adult daily smokers started smoking when they were teenagers, and that tobacco industry marketing appeals to teens. That's why No Limits Nebraska is planning a day at the capitol March 23, she said. The story was also reported in the Deshler Rustler, the Hickman Voice News and other Nebraska news media this week.

Quitting Smoking Good for the Heart
Smokers have a higher risk of developing many chronic disorders, including atherosclerosis — the buildup of fatty substances in the arteries — which can lead to coronary heart disease, heart attack and stroke. That's according to the Ralston Recorder, one of several news outlets reporting this week on American Heart month.

Smokeless Tobacco Ban in Major League Baseball Supported
The effort of two U.S. Senators who have called on major league baseball to ban smokeless tobacco use ought to be supported, according to an article printed this week. "Spit tobacco out of majors and do it soon," according to the Columbus Telegram headline.

Nebraskans Encouraged to Quit SmokeLess Tobacco
While the possibility of a ban on smokeless tobacco in major league baseball was making national headlines, a week focusing on encouraging Nebraskans to quit using smokeless tobacco made headlines in several Nebraska news outlets. "Smokeless tobacco is not a safe alternative to smoking and is even more habit forming because it contains a higher concentration of nicotine than cigarettes," Tabi Prochazka, environmental coordinator with Panhandle Public Health District, told the Alliance Times-Herald.

Today is the Great American Spit Out, an educational campaign for the U.S. military, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Click to pledge to quit tobacco, and find all the tools and resources you need to quit for good.

At Quit Tobacco—Make Everyone Proud, visitors receive an opportunity to learn more about tobacco cessation and develop a personalized plan for quitting, create a personal or public blog.

The mission of the campaign web site, which was launched in February of 2007, is to help U.S. service members quit tobacco — for themselves and for those they love.

Movies are a powerful way to attract new youth smokers and to increase cravings among adult smokers, according to a national organization dedicated to help all young people reject tobacco. 

Research studies in the last 10 years have shown that on-screen smoking influences young people to light up, according to Cheryl Healton, President of the American Legacy Foundation.

In Nebraska each year, 2,200 Nebraska youth take up smoking, and, coincidentally, 2,200 Nebraskans die each year as a result of smoking-related disease. This research shows that smoking on-screen contributes to encouraging those young smokers to start, and making it more difficult for adult smokers to quit.

"Film is better than any commercial that has been run on television or in any magazine, because the audience is totally unaware of the sponsor involvement." 

That's according to what a film industry representative told a tobacco company as far back as 1972, Healton reports.

A study released in January in The Journal of Neuroscience looks at the responses in smokers’ when exposed to tobacco images on screen. Compared to nonsmokers, when smokers saw characters smoke on screen, the areas of the brain associated with planning and simulating hand gestures showed greater activity. For smokers, simply watching someone smoking triggered brain responses of planning to make that movement too. 

The evidence seems clear: Movies are among the long list of triggers that perpetuate nicotine addiction.

Nebraska Hospital Association Supports Cigarette Tax Measure
In a letter to the Lincoln Journal Star, the Nebraska Hospital Association announced its support of a measure to raise the cigarette tax from 64 cents per pack to $1.99 per pack. The Hospital Association calls LB436 a "bold stride toward reducing smoking in Nebraska."

National News Highlights Possibility of Smoke-Free Nebraska Hotels
The possibility that Nebraska might be the next state to have smoke-free hotels made national news this week. The story highlighted the growing trend nationally toward smoke-free hotels. The USA Today noted that if the Nebraska Supreme Court upholds a ruling by a Lancaster County District Court that struck down exemptions to Nebraska's smoke-free worksites law for tobacco stores, cigar bars and hotels, Nebraska would be the third state to have smoke-free hotels, joining Michigan and Wisconsin.

Nebraskans to Recognize Through with Chew Week
News stories throughout Nebraska highlighted that beginning Sunday, February 20, Nebraskans will recognize Through With Chew Week. The week, which runs through February 26, is designed to call attention to smokeless tobacco use in Nebraska and to encourage users to quit.

"Smokeless tobacco is not a safe alternative to smoking and is even more habit forming because it contains a higher concentration of nicotine than cigarettes," Tim Zeleski of Tobacco Free Hall County told the Grand Island Independent.

According to the 2009 Nebraska Youth Risk Behavior Survey of ninth- through 12th-graders, 19.7 percent of Nebraska high school males used smokeless tobacco within the past 30 days. The national average for high school males is 15 percent. Nebraska's combined total (male and female) is 10.9 percent. The national combined total is 8.9 percent.

Nebraska Youth to Rally to Prevent Tobacco Use
A youth rally is planned to promote tobacco prevention, according to the Fairbury Journal News, the Lincoln Journal Star and others.

A statewide student-led anti-tobacco group will hold a youth rally and march for "empowerment and activism" March 23 at the state Capitol. The rally and other events are planned across the country as part of Kick Butts Day organized by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids to encourage young people to stand up and speak out against the tobacco industry.

Quitting Smoking Good for the Heart
The link between cigarette smoking and heart disease was highlighted in stories in the Falls City Journal, the Geneva Nebraska Signal, the Columbus Telegram and others in recognition of American Heart Month. A major benefit to quitting
smoking is that the risk of heart disease is reduced by almost half, according to the York News Times.

Compliance Checks
Two businesses of 72 checked sold tobacco to minors in a recent Sarpy County effort to reduce tobacco sales to minors, according to a Gretna Breeze article. That resulted in a 2.7 percent failure rate.

February is "American Heart Month," which makes it a great time to quit smoking for Nebraskans.

Cardiovascular diseases, including stroke, are our nation's No. 1 killer. 

Cigarette smoking is the most important preventable cause of premature death in the United States, according to the American Heart Association. It accounts for more than 440,000 of the more than 2.4 million annual deaths. Cigarette smokers have a higher risk of developing several chronic disorders. These include fatty buildups in arteries, several types of cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (lung problems). Atherosclerosis (buildup of fatty substances in the arteries) is a chief contributor to the high number of deaths from smoking. Many studies detail the evidence that cigarette smoking is a major cause of coronary heart disease, which leads to heart attack.

The American Heart Association led initial efforts to develop Annual American Heart Month.

For tips in quitting smoking, see the video here from the University of Nebraska Medical Center.