{"id":16342,"date":"2025-11-20T16:53:22","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T21:53:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/?page_id=16342"},"modified":"2025-11-20T16:53:56","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T21:53:56","slug":"16342-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/16342-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Encourages Community to Call it Quits"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>November\u00a020, 2025<br \/>\n<strong>Media Contact:<\/strong> Dr. Zelalem Attlee, <u><a href=\"mailto:Zelalem.Attlee@vdh.virginia.gov\">Zelalem.Attlee@vdh.virginia.gov<\/a><\/u>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District<\/strong> <strong>Encourages Community to Call it Quits<br \/>\n<\/strong><em>The Great American Smoke out is November 20<\/em><\/p>\n<p>WARRENTON, Va. \u2013Smoking remains the single largest preventable cause of death and disease in the nation, according to the Virginia Department of Health\u2019s (VDH) <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/tobacco-free-living\/tobacco-use-control-project-tucp\/\">Tobacco Control Program<\/a><\/u>. The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District says the annual <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cancer.org\/cancer\/risk-prevention\/tobacco\/great-american-smokeout.html\">Great American Smoke out<\/a><\/u>\u00a0on November 20 is the perfect time to quit.<\/p>\n<p>November is <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lung.org\/lung-force\/about-lung-force\/featured-campaigns\/lung-cancer-awareness-month\">Lung Cancer Awareness Month<\/a><\/u>. More people, both men and women, in the United States die from <u><a href=\"https:\/\/gis.cdc.gov\/Cancer\/USCS\/#\/special-topic\/demographics?datatype=1&amp;cancer=61&amp;indicator=value&amp;timeperiod=1&amp;sexes=1_2_3&amp;races=1&amp;ages=23&amp;tab=2&amp;view=chart&amp;xaxis=sexes\">lung cancer<\/a><\/u>\u00a0than any other type of cancer according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer, responsible for approximately 85% of all cases.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn November 20, the Great American Smoke\u2011Out offers a powerful moment for each of us to choose health over habit,\u201d said Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Director J. Carr, M.D. \u201cAt the Rappahannock\u2011Rapidan Health District, we stand ready to support anyone ready to take that step, because quitting smoking is one of the great gifts you can give yourself and your community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The desire for a healthier, smoke-free life is the first step. Some <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/tobacco\/about\/benefits-of-quitting.html\">benefits of quitting<\/a><\/u>\u00a0include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Improves health status and enhances quality of life.<\/li>\n<li>Reduces the risk of premature death and can years to life expectancy.<\/li>\n<li>Reduces the risk for many adverse health effects.<\/li>\n<li>Reduces financial burden of those who smoke.<\/li>\n<li>Benefits people already diagnosed with cardiovascular diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cancer, and poor reproductive health outcomes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District has several resources to help guide you or a loved one in quitting:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2024\/09\/3-WaystoQuit_FactSheet2024Link-1.pdf\">Ways to Quit Smoking<\/a><\/u><\/li>\n<li><u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2024\/09\/12-Help-QuitQuitNowFactSheet2024Link-1.pdf\">How to Help People Quit<\/a><\/u><\/li>\n<li><u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2024\/09\/10-MedicartionQuitNowFactSheet2024Link-1.pdf\">Medications to Help Quit Tobacco and Nicotine<\/a><\/u><\/li>\n<li><u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2024\/09\/2-SmokingStressQuitNowFactSheet2024Link-1.pdf\">Tobacco and Stress<\/a><\/u><\/li>\n<li><u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2024\/09\/1-E-cigarettes-QuitNowFactSheet2024Link-1.pdf\">E-cigarettes<\/a><\/u><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Quitting isn\u2019t easy. Statistics show that most people make multiple attempts to quit. These <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/tobacco\/about\/how-to-quit.html\">tools and strategies<\/a><\/u>\u00a0can help you make the important change.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Give yourself time.<\/strong> You don\u2019t have to stop smoking in one day. It\u2019s a journey.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Have a plan.<\/strong> <u><a href=\"https:\/\/quitnowvirginia.org\/\">Quit Now Virginia<\/a><\/u> can help you make a plan. It\u2019s free to all Virginians 13 and older.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Seek support. <\/strong>Share your story and your goals with friends and family. Look for local or online support groups.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Talk to your doctor.<\/strong> Prescription medications may be available to help you quit for good.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><u><a href=\"https:\/\/quitnowvirginia.org\/\">Quit Now Virginia<\/a><\/u>\u00a0is a statewide service for those who want to quit smoking or using smokeless tobacco, e-cigarettes, or vapes. Clients can receive one-on-one coaching sessions by phone, chat, or text, as well as group coaching. Virginia tobacco and nicotine users interested in quitting their addiction can contact Quit Now Virginia at 1-800-Quit Now (1-800-784-8669) or at <u><a href=\"https:\/\/quitnowvirginia.org\/\">quitnowvirginia.org<\/a><\/u>.<\/p>\n<p>For more assistance, contact The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District at <u><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rrhd.org\">www.rrhd.org<\/a><\/u>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"># # #<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>November\u00a020, 2025 Media Contact: Dr. Zelalem Attlee, Zelalem.Attlee@vdh.virginia.gov. Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Encourages Community to Call it Quits The Great American Smoke out is November 20 WARRENTON, Va. \u2013Smoking remains the single largest preventable cause of death and disease in the nation, according to the Virginia Department of Health\u2019s (VDH) Tobacco Control Program. The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":444,"featured_media":0,"parent":12292,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16342","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Encourages Community to Call it Quits - Newsroom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/16342-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Encourages Community to Call it Quits - Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"November\u00a020, 2025 Media Contact: Dr. Zelalem Attlee, Zelalem.Attlee@vdh.virginia.gov. Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Encourages Community to Call it Quits The Great American Smoke out is November 20 WARRENTON, Va. \u2013Smoking remains the single largest preventable cause of death and disease in the nation, according to the Virginia Department of Health\u2019s (VDH) Tobacco Control Program. The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/16342-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-20T21:53:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/archived-news-releases\\\/2025-regional-news-releases\\\/16342-2\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/archived-news-releases\\\/2025-regional-news-releases\\\/16342-2\\\/\",\"name\":\"Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Encourages Community to Call it Quits - Newsroom\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-20T21:53:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-20T21:53:56+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/archived-news-releases\\\/2025-regional-news-releases\\\/16342-2\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/archived-news-releases\\\/2025-regional-news-releases\\\/16342-2\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/archived-news-releases\\\/2025-regional-news-releases\\\/16342-2\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Newsroom\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Archived News Releases\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/archived-news-releases\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"2025 Regional News Releases\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/archived-news-releases\\\/2025-regional-news-releases\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":5,\"name\":\"Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Encourages Community to Call it Quits\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Newsroom\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Encourages Community to Call it Quits - Newsroom","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/16342-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Encourages Community to Call it Quits - Newsroom","og_description":"November\u00a020, 2025 Media Contact: Dr. Zelalem Attlee, Zelalem.Attlee@vdh.virginia.gov. Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Encourages Community to Call it Quits The Great American Smoke out is November 20 WARRENTON, Va. \u2013Smoking remains the single largest preventable cause of death and disease in the nation, according to the Virginia Department of Health\u2019s (VDH) Tobacco Control Program. The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/16342-2\/","og_site_name":"Newsroom","article_modified_time":"2025-11-20T21:53:56+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/16342-2\/","url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/16342-2\/","name":"Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Encourages Community to Call it Quits - Newsroom","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-11-20T21:53:22+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-20T21:53:56+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/16342-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/16342-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/16342-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Newsroom","item":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Archived News Releases","item":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"2025 Regional News Releases","item":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Encourages Community to Call it Quits"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/","name":"Newsroom","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/444"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16342"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16344,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16342\/revisions\/16344"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}