QuitDay.org is an independent, volunteer run organization which began as a collaboration between students from University of Washington and Portland State University. As part of an ongoing effort by United States universities to combat student and faculty smoking at institutions of higher education, we organized to provide smoking cessation resources available to anyone around the world.
Our goal is to not only to end smoking in universities, but to provide education and support to individuals and families who are smoking who wish to quit smoking.
What’s Next for QuitDay?
In 2015, QuitDay.org has grown to involve student volunteers not only in the United States, but also developed a partnership with European student smoking cessation groups. We are currently working on translating the content on QuitDay.org to include Spanish, French and German version of the website. Over 30% of our unique visitors come from Europe, and we hope to provide our resources in these visitors’ native languages so that the language barrier does not come between a smoker and our quitting resources. We expect to launch our first version of QuitDay.org including support for international languages in the summer of 2016.
How You Can Help Make a Difference
Our priority at QuitDay.org is to help get the word out on the dangers and effects of smoking. Education is our most powerful asset to help people understand the damage they cause to themselves, their loved ones and society when they smoke a cigarette. If you are involved in health advocacy or publish to a blog, please consider helping end the smoking epidemic by mentioning our organization as a resource for people to quit smoking. To our many partners around the United States and the world, we thank you for your support and will continue to work towards a smoke-free world.
Mission
Our mission is to help those who are trying to quit smoking through education and support.
True power comes from the knowledge obtained through education. By learning about smoking’s effects, people are able to make informed decisions.
At QuitDay, we have opted to educate individuals who are looking for information on smoking and its effects. We do this through literature which has been fashioned in an academic format with links to verifiable source materials. By adopting this structure, we are able to provide readers with what we believe is valuable knowledge about tobacco products through statistics, research, and studies.
Our organization believes that together, we can make a difference. By learning how to accept help from others, we learn the value of giving help to those in need.
Members of the QuitDay community are able to help one another in their journey to become smoke-free. Here, people can share their personal experiences, individual insights, and unique philosophies with those who need support. By reaching out to someone who needs your help, you gain valuable experience and strength – helping yourself to overcome obstacles that may otherwise have led to relapse. We believe that through unity and support, anyone can quit smoking for good.
Our Story
There are millions of people all over the world who smoke, and there are millions more who care greatly for someone who is suffering from smoking’s effects.
We have all known someone who smoked cigarettes or chewed tobacco at one point or another. Whether it was a parent, a sibling, or a friend, some of us have had to watch the illness unfold. We, like so many others, have had someone close to us suffer from the effects of smoking. This is what prompted us to come together, and to take action.
Watching someone you love become sick because of cigarettes is a life-changing experience. Imagining what it must be like for that person, the regret, the anger, and the frustration – it makes one feel powerless. Each of us endured this feeling while standing idly by, unable to fully gather the strength to cope with, or let alone understand, the depth of the destruction caused by cigarettes.
It was experiences such as these that illustrated the need for unity and support. It was experiences such as these which demonstrated the need for the accumulation, and spread of information. It was because of experiences such as these, that QuitDay was born.
Statistics
At QuitDay, we have seen the devastation smoking causes. Using tobacco products negatively affects virtually every part of the human body. From the skin and organs, to muscles and the brain – smoking kills on a cellular level. It can restructure chemistry, cause the growth of nicotine receptors, and affect the central nervous system as a whole. Although most people understand that smoking is “bad” for their health, many have no idea the extent of damage smoking can cause.
Deaths per Year: Globally, approximately 6 million people die from tobacco use each year. In some countries, such as the US, the number of smokers is decreasing – however globally, the number is rising. It is expected that more than 8 million people will die from smoking, or from being exposed to second-hand smoke, by the year 2030. In the US alone, there are an estimated 480,000 deaths annually from smoking and exposure. This is 1 in 5 deaths, which equals about 1,300 deaths each and every day from smoking or second-hand smoke exposure.
Living with Illnesses: It is estimated that approximately 16 million people in the US alone are currently living with an illness caused by either smoking tobacco products directly, or having been exposed to second and third-hand smoke. There are also an estimated 1 billion smokers throughout the world. It is unknown how many people are living with an illness globally due to smoke exposure.
Health Care Costs in the US: Tobacco use costs billions of dollars in the United States each year. Approximately 170 billion dollars is spent on direct medical care for smokers annually.
Economic Losses in the US: The economy loses over 156 billion dollars annually because of lost productivity. This is in light of the premature deaths due to smoking directly, as well as the deaths from the exposure to second-hand smoke.
Join the Community at QuitDay
We know that you are someone that cares about the health of yourself and others, and we are happy to have you on our website. We invite you to join our community, and to work with us to help raise awareness of the dangers and effects of smoking, and to help those who want to quit to do so quickly and safely. If you, or someone you care about smokes, QuitDay can offer you the resources to form educated decisions, and to gain the support you need to help you on your journey. From education to support, we would love to welcome you to our growing community of current smokers who are on their way to becoming smoke-free, and former smokers who can offer you valuable tips and advice on how to kick the habit for good. Feel free to read through our wide selection of literature, or reach out to someone today. Make today your quit day!