New Video and Other Resources on the Importance of Quitting Smoking for People Living with HIV

Content From: Miguel Gomez, Director, AIDS.gov, and Senior Communications Advisor, Office of HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Policy, U.S. Department of Health and Human ServicesPublished: November 19, 20132 min read

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Be a QuitterIn advance of this week’s observance of the 2013 Great American SmokeoutExit Disclaimer on Thursday, November 21, we are pleased to introduce a brief new video about the harmful effects of smoking among people living with HIV. Organized annually by the American Cancer SocietyExit Disclaimer, the Smokeout encourages smokers to use the date to make a plan to quit, or to plan in advance and quit smoking that day. By doing so, smokers—including those living with HIV—will be taking an important step towards a healthier life—one that can lead to reducing cancer and other health risks.

The new video features Dr. Ron Valdiserri, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, Infectious Diseases, and Dr. Jonathan Mermin, Director of CDC’s National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention:

This video has been incorporated into the HIV.gov page on Smoking & Tobacco Use, which is located in our HIV/AIDS Basics section on Staying Healthy with HIV/AIDS. Consider reviewing this page and, possibly, sharing it with others who may be considering the health benefits of quitting smoking. It details some resources available to help people quit smoking.

We also recommend reviewing Dr. Ron Valdiserri’s blog post on this topic from last November, Great American Smokeout: An Opportunity for Smokers Living with HIV to Improve their Health. In it, he discusses the higher smoking prevalence among people living with HIV and the associated adverse health consequences. His observation that “quitting smoking may be one of the most important steps toward better health that a person living with HIV can take” remains no less true today.