Smoking isn’t just expensive for those who light up, it’s expensive for the province as well.
Tobbaco use costs the province $338-million a year according to provincial Health Minister Ted Flemming speaking at an announcement where it was revealed $225,000 is being poured into a research project called Connected Voices studying how effective mobile technology is at getting smokers to quit.
Dr. Michel Johnson of the University of Moncton is leading the project and says they’re establishing cardiac rehab and smoking cessation programs in the Bouctouche area to “deal with issues in that area and help patients maintain good behaviours through the use of mHealth”, which is mobile health through smart phones and tablets.
Phizer Canada investing $150,000 while the New Brunswick Health Research Foundation’s Strategic Initiative program is putting in $75,000 into the project.
New Brunswick has one of the highest rates of smoking in the country, with 17-percent of the population made up of heavy smokers.
