News & Events

NCCHW Celebrates Successes of Tobacco Reality Uncensored

April 26, 2012

The North Carolina Alliance for Health (NCAH) will join with the North Carolina Center for Health & Wellness (NCCHW) and the Project ASSIST Coalition to celebrate the successes of Tobacco Reality Uncensored (TRU) during a local news conference April 30. The press conference will be lead by Buncombe County's Health Director Gibbie Harris. Patrica Mills, a local survivor of a tobacco-related illness will also address the group along with Betsy Vetter from the American Heart Association. The event will begin at 4:15 p.m. and take place in the Mountain View Room 417 in the Wilma M. Sherrill Center on UNC Asheville's campus.

The conference will highlight the successes achieved since North Carolina first began spending a portion of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) funds on smoking prevention and cessation programs, which have resulted in the lowest youth smoking rates in North Carolina's history. Despite this success, tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death in North Carolina, and funding for these programs is set to expire on June 30. Local youth will be creating tobacco cessession "Quit Kits" to be given to soilders who hope to quit smoking. NCAH will be hosting several other news conferences throughout the state on the same day and will highlight the progress achieved since the initiation of funding in 2003. 

For more information on the press conference contact Lee Storrow at t-lee.storrow@heart.org.