Oncology Business Week
HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association (PPFFA) announced that it will become the first Fire Fighter State Association to offer a comprehensive smoking cessation program in the nation. This program is part of its long standing commitment to protecting the health of fire fighters. This announcement coincides with a critical legislative debate taking place in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives regarding presumptive language to protect fire fighters who have cancer (see also Cancer).
“Today is a monumental day for the health of all fire fighters in Pennsylvania,” PPFFA President Art Martynuska said. “As we anxiously await successful passage of House Bill 1231 that will help our fellow fire fighters who are battling cancer, today PPFFA also takes an important step forward in proactively protecting the health of fire fighters by becoming the first union in Pennsylvania to attempt to become tobacco free.”
Joining the more than 100 PPFFA members at the event, Rep. Kevin Murphy (D-Lackawanna), prime sponsor of HB 1231, Rep. Frank Farry (R-Bucks), Rep. Bryan Barbin (D-Cambria) and Deborah Brown, acting CEO for the American Lung Association of the Mid-Atlantic, lent their support to PPFFA and their health priority efforts.
“I know I join with all Pennsylvanians in thanking the brave men and women of the PPFFA who put their lives on the line for all of us every day,” Rep. Murphy said. “But that bravery also comes at a price — an increased risk of contracting cancer. Successful passage of HB 1231 is one of the best thank you’s we can give to fire fighters by ensuring their access to cancer treatment. This, combined with PPFFA’s new tobacco free initiative, paves the way for improving the health of fire fighters across Pennsylvania.”
Following the national lead of the International Association of Fire Fighters, the PPFFA is the first state fire fighter association in the country and the first organized union in Pennsylvania to attempt to become tobacco free. The initiative includes all cigarettes and other smoking products. The PPFFA is working closely with its local affiliates to ensure that this policy is adopted at the local level and that all fire fighters have access to comprehensive smoking cessation treatments through their health care insurers. These treatments, which are recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, include all FDA-approved over-the-counter and prescription medications, counseling and multiple quit attempts.
“The American Lung Association is pleased to partner with the PPFFA in its smoking cessation efforts and in helping any fire fighters to conquer their nicotine addiction,” Brown said. “It’s through the leadership of organizations like the PPFFA that smokers across Pennsylvania can be energized to quit. With improved access to comprehensive smoking cessation treatments, Pennsylvanians have an opportunity to bring about a truly smoke-free commonwealth.”
Smoking is the number-one cause of premature death and a significant contributor to heart disease, lung disease, chronic bronchitis and emphysema. It contributes to more than a dozen types of cancers, many of which are often fatal, and smoking is the leading cause of fires, including fires that have claimed the lives of so many PPFFA members.
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