We are excited to announce that the CRCPHP will be the new home for the ASHLine, the Arizona Smokers Helpline. ASHLine offers free telephone and Web-based services, in both English and Spanish, to help people quit tobacco. Located in the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona and funded by the state tax on tobacco products, ASHLine has been helping people quit tobacco since 1995.
Continue reading for the communications release from the Arizona Department of Health Services.
The Arizona Department of Health Services released the following statement on Friday May 16:
Greetings,
I have exciting news to share on the ASHLine front!
The University of Arizona’s Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health (COPH), which houses the ASHLine, is launching a major initiative that signals a re-organization and shift in strategic direction. As a core component in their commitment to promote disease prevention and achieve a high level of public health impact, the leadership of COPH is moving the ASHLine to be an integral part of the Canyon Ranch Center for Prevention and Health Promotion (CRCPHP). Tobacco cessation will remain as the core of the ASHLine mission, with the overall reach of the Center expanding into a comprehensive chronic disease management/prevention plan. In consort with the strategic directions of the ADHS Bureau of Tobacco & Chronic Disease, and in collaboration with nationally renowned experts in tobacco cessation and chronic disease management, the ASHLine and CRCPHP will continue moving towards public-private partnerships that will place an even greater emphasis on improving the health of all Arizona populations.
As you may have heard, this re-organization includes significant structural changes at the ASHLine, including a change in leadership and a new location whereby ASHLine will co-exist with other programs of CRCPHP. I will be assisting in the re-organization efforts and strategic directions, and will provide periodic updates as they materialize. In the meantime, please be assured that there will be no disruption in service in this core component of our common cause to reduce tobacco use in Arizona.
A special thanks goes to the COPH faculty in both Tucson and Phoenix, and in particular Dean Iman Hakim, Dr. John Ehiri and Dr. Cecilia Rosales for their strong leadership in forging ahead in the development of CRCPHP in manner that will integrate the work of ASHLine and amplify the collective efforts of both ADHS and our many partners and stakeholders across the state.
Wayne Tormala, Chief
Arizona Department of Health Services
Bureau of Tobacco & Chronic Disease
www.tobaccofreearizona.com
www.azdhs.gov/phs/chronicdisease
CRCPHP Director, Dr. Cynthia Thomson, PhD, RD, FTOS, FAND, stated "The CRCPHP welcomes this new opportunity to lead, along with key MEZCOPH faculty and our partners at ADHS and across the state, efforts to promote tobacco cessation across the state. Importantly, we see the integration of tobacco cessation into our current efforts related to promotion of healthy lifestyle behaviors an effective strategy for improving the health of Arizonans."
