DAPHNE, Ala.—The Alabama Depart-ment of Public Health’s tobacco prevention and control branch has set a state-wide series of public forums on the dangers of smoking and its correlation to cardiovascular disease.

Daphne’s forum is set for 6 p.m. Monday at the Daphne Recreation Center, 2605 U.S. Highway 98.

The lecture series is part of the new “Assault on Alabama Cardiovascular Mortality,” a program sponsored by the Alabama Chapter of the American College of Cardiology, designed by cardiologists and funded by a national grant.

“The project goal is to raise awareness of the high cardiovascular mortality rate for the citizens of Alabama,” Tina Findley, registered nurse with the Tobacco Prevention and Control Center, said.

Project leaders also hope to promote changes that decrease the cardiovascular mortality rate for Alabama residents, Findley said.

The forum is headed by Dr. Brian Dearing, an interventional and peripheral vascular cardiologist with Cardiology Associates in Mobile.

Dearing will speak about cardiovascular disease and death rates in Alabama attributed to smoking cigarettes; he will be available to answer any questions after the meeting.

“Alabama has the fourth highest death rate for heart disease and the seventh highest death rate for stroke in the U.S.,” Dee Mooty, executive director of the Alabama chapter of the American College of Cardiology, said in a statement.

A reported 7,500 Alabamians annually die from smoking-related illnesses; deaths caused from exposure to secondhand smoke total 850 people per year.

The annual health-care cost in Alabama directly caused by smoking is $1.5 billion, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the state and accounts for 34 percent of all deaths in Alabama.

That’s why “the cardiologists want to go out and talk about how serious this problem is,” Mooty said.

Cigarette smoking is such a significant risk that former Surgeon General Rear Adm. Steven K. Galson deemed it “the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the U.S.”

Previous forums have been held in Dothan and Tuscaloosa; lectures are scheduled for Mobile, Gadsden and Florence.

There is no cost to attend the forum; refreshments will be provided.

For more information, call the Alabama Department of Public Health at 867-5765.

Cardiovascular effects of smoking

Source: Alabama Department of Public Health