MOST of us will think of roses and sweets on celebrate Valentine’s Day. This Valentine’s Day, Asian Pacific Partners for Empowerment, Advocacy and Leadership (APPEAL) and Asian Smokers’ Quitline (ASQ) encourage Asian American community members to surprise their significant others by attempting to quit smoking and/or making a committment to quit for good if possible. Quitting smoking improves the health of individuals and loved ones around them.
High rates of tobacco use among Asian Americans are often overlooked because mainstream data tends to combine diverse Asian and Pacific Islander communities into one group. However, separating the data reveals that certain Asian subpopulations smoke at higher rates compared to the general U.S. population. Along with other factors, aggregation of tobacco data can perpetuate inequities of tobacco use among Asian Americans and hinder access to cessation resources.
Accessibility to in-language smoking cessation resources for Asian American populations is an essential part of advancing health equity in tobacco control. ASQ provides invaluable resources to our Chinese-, Korean- and Vietnamese-speaking community members who have limited English proficiency. It is crucial to make sure our communities know that free help is available to lead a healthier lifestyle. All of you can play a vital role by sharing these resources to smokers or you can also contact ASQ to obtain free and practical information to help significant others to quit the use of tobacco.
Asian Pacific Partners for Empowerment, Advocacy and Leadership (APPEAL) is a national health justice organization working to achieve health equity for Asian
Americans, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders (AA and NHPI) and other underserved communities. APPEAL provides support and technical assistance to address tobacco and cancer related disparities among Asian American, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islander Communities.
ASQ is operated by the Asian Smokers’ Quitline (ASQ) and funded by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). ASQ provides FREE evidence-based smoking cessation services in Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean and Vietnamese to Asian communities in the U.S. and eligible smokers can receive a free two-week supply of nicotine patches. Studies have shown that smokers who enroll in ASQ services double their chances of quitting successfully.
ASQ is open Monday through Friday, 7am to 9pm Pacific Time (10am to Midnight Eastern Time). To enroll, call or register online today:
• Mandarin & Cantonese, 1-800-838-8917, www.asq-chinese.org;
• Korean, 1-800-556-5564, www.asq-korean.org;
• Vietnamese, 1-800-778-8440, www.asq-viet.org.