JAN. 16, 2003 | The Arkansas chapter of the American Cancer Society honored the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) this week with a 2003 Arkansas Clean Air Award for its plan to become a smoke-free campus. The organization called the plan, to take effect at UAMS July 4, one of “Arkansas’ top five clean air accomplishments of 2003.”

Dean James M. Raczynski, Ph.D., of the UAMS College of Public Health, and Peter White, Jr., M.D., an assistant professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine in the UAMS College of Medicine and a member of the Arkansas Cancer Research Center, accepted the award during a ceremony at the Arkansas Capitol.

The society presented the awards on Jan. 12 the 40th anniversary of the first U.S Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health. The landmark report was America’s first widely publicized official recognition that cigarette smoking is a cause of cancer and other serious and deadly diseases.

“The recognition for our efforts is wonderful, but the most important part of our efforts is to serve as a successful model for Arkansans and to send a clear message about the dangers of tobacco use. To have a smoke free campus is the right thing to do for students, patients, and their families. It’s the right thing to do for Arkansas. I hope other academic institutions, hospitals, and health sciences centers will follow,” Dean Raczynski said.

To promote better individual and community health statewide, UAMS established the College of Public Health with partial funding from the state’s share of the 1998 nationwide tobacco settlement.

The other winners were the City of Fayetteville, War Memorial Stadium, the Little Rock National Airport and the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average smoker costs his or her employer more than $3,600 per year through lost productivity and additional health costs. Secondhand smoke is reported to be the third leading cause of preventable death in the United States, causing 38,000 deaths each year, including 3,000 lung cancer deaths among otherwise healthy nonsmokers.

Links on This Page

A Great Day: http://www.uams.edu/today/2002/070202/cphtopping.htm
College of Public Health: http://www.uams.edu/coph/default.htm
Arkansas Cancer Research Center: http://www.acrc.uams.edu/

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