Health Leaders Celebrate Tennessee Quit Week
NASHVILLE – Tennessee Health Commissioner John Dreyzehner, MD, MPH, will join former U.S. Senator Bill Frist, MD, founder and chairman of NashvilleHealth and Governor’s Foundation for Health and Wellness CEO Richard Johnson Tuesday, Feb. 14 at the Tennessee State Capitol to celebrate Tennessee Quit Week and discuss opportunities for residents, government, business and non-profit leaders to partner in reducing tobacco use in Tennessee. The event begins at 8:30 a.m. in the Old Supreme Court Chamber and is open to the public.
Tennessee Quit Week was created as an initiative of the TDH Statewide Tobacco-Free Coalition to reduce the burden of tobacco use by raising awareness of free resources available to help Tennesseans quit smoking and/or using other tobacco products. The coalition consists of key stakeholders and community partners from around the state whose purpose is to identify strengths, gaps and opportunities for tobacco control in Tennessee.
Tobacco use claims the lives of at least 30 Tennesseans each day and directly causes more than $2.6 billion in annual health care costs in the state. In addition, tobacco use costs Tennessee billions of dollars each year in lost productivity. These consequences could be eliminated by reducing nicotine addiction and tobacco use among Tennesseans.
Who: John Dreyzehner, MD, MPH, Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Health
Sen. Bill Frist, MD, Founder and Chairman, NashvilleHealth
Richard Johnson, CEO, Governor’s Foundation for Health and Wellness
What: Tennessee Quit Week news conference
When: Tuesday, February 14, 8:30 a.m. Central time
Where: Tennessee State Capitol
Old Supreme Court Chamber
600 Charlotte Ave.
Nashville, Tennessee 37243
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Shelley Walker
615-253-5284
Shelley.Walker@tn.gov
OR
Molly Sudderth
615-610-1879
molly@healthierstate.org