COLUMBUS – Franklin and its surrounding counties have the second-highest rate of adult tobacco use in Ohio, so the state is giving local health and social-service agencies funds to reduce that rate, or at least try.
The rate of adult tobacco use is 24.3 percent, while the rate of adult smokers, at 18.7 percent, is below the statewide rate of 21 percent, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
Franklin County Public Health and several other agencies have been awarded a $523,434 a year grant from the state health department’s Community Cessation Initiative with the goal of increasing the number of tobacco users that attempt to quit by 15 percent.
Other agencies sharing in the funds include the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority, Columbus Public Health, the Healthcare Collaborative of Greater Columbus, the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, the Ohio Association of Community Health Centers and The Breathing Association. says Franklin County Health Commissioner Joe Mazzola
Mazzola says his agency is responsible for organizing a county-wide effort to assess current resources for helping tobacco users quit, identify gaps in available services, implement interventions and devise strategies to there are resources to help members of diverse populations give up tobacco.