Think tobacco use is old news? Think again.

Even after decades of effort in preventing and stopping tobacco use, smoking is still our countrys longest running and deadliest epidemic, according to a recent article appearing in the New England Journal of Medicine and co-authored by the heads of the CDC, FDA and National Cancer Institute. In 2018, over 49 million U.S. adults reported current tobacco use, and cigarettes remain responsible for nearly 480,000 preventable deaths each year in the United States.

To address this massive ongoing health issue, Im proud to share news about the launch of Soleras newest program - Tobacco Cessation! Weve reimagined how individuals quit smoking, vaping and other tobacco products. Our first-of-its-kind network of top-tier, evidence-based digital intensive interventions includes programs from Click Therapeutics, eMindful and Truth Initiative. These award-winning offerings, designed with leading medical centers from around the country, such as the Mayo Clinic and Duke University, offer cutting-edge quit experiences that achieve quit rates 5-8 times the rates seen when quitting with no help.

The collision of the ongoing tobacco epidemic, the Covid-19 pandemic and the influenza twindemic has created new urgency around helping tobacco users get quit and stay quit, and smokers are taking note. One study conducted in April 2020 suggested that concern about Covid-19 had increased quit attempts by as much as 500% compared to a typical month. And this concern is justified - in a review of data from 11,590 patients conducted by researchers at UCSF, current smoking was associated with nearly double the risk of severe Covid.

Even though motivation to quit remains high, stress and depression are reaching historically high levels, leading people to double down on current tobacco use or pick up old habits. Anyone trying to quit tobacco needs more support than ever to get free from nicotine dependence, or head off a relapse.

The Solera Tobacco Cessation Program - available first to Blue Shield of California members, at no additional cost, through the Wellvolution Platform - adds to Soleras innovative portfolio of digital intensive lifestyle interventions to prevent chronic conditions and improve health. By building networks of exceptional digital providers of preventive services, Solera continues to enable our partners to go beyond a single solution by offering a curated selection of programs unlike anything else on the market and which appeals to broad populations of users.

Keep following us as we continue to help people to get and stay healthy!

#StopSmoking #BSC #SoleraHealth #GreatAmericanSmokeout

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