ATTENTION: Assignment editors, health, research and science reporters
| For immediate release - |
2006-30 |
OTTAWA (July 10, 2006) - Over 37,000 deaths in Canada are attributable to tobacco and over 2 million hospital days were attributable to tobacco use in 2002 alone. Two experts from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) are available to comment on nicotine addiction and various forms of cancer in light of the 2005 Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey released today by Statistics Canada.
"Smoking kills over 3.5 million people worldwide and for us in Canada it is a major health and social concern," says Dr. Remi Quirion based in Montreal and Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction.
"Tobacco represents the single major preventable hazard for cancer," said Dr. Philip Branton who is also based in Montreal and Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Cancer Research. "Tobacco use is associated with a minimum of 30% of all fatal cancers in Canada."
Research is an important step to reverse this trend. Under Dr. Quirion's leadership, the Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction has partnered with the Institute of Cancer Research and a number of other organizations to support research which accelerates our understanding of and action around the measures, causes, consequences, prevention, treatment, and control of tobacco abuse and nicotine addiction.
"Risk behaviour and prevention, especially relating to tobacco use, is ICR's number one priority," adds Dr. Branton.
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Dr. Quirion is one of the most highly cited neuroscientists in the world, and recipient of the 2003 Médaille de l'Assemblée nationale du Québec. He is available to talk about research into nicotine addiction and tobacco abuse and the resulting costs.
Dr. Branton is an international leader in cancer research and is the 2005 recipient of the R.M. Taylor Medal of the Canadian Cancer Society. He is available to comment on the relationship between smoking and various forms of cancer.
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada's agency for health research. CIHR's mission is to create new scientific knowledge and to catalyze its translation into improved health, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened Canadian health care system. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and support to over 10,000 health researchers and trainees across Canada.
For an interview with Dr. Remi Quirion or Dr. Philip Branton, please contact:
Marie-France Poirier
CIHR Media Specialist
Office: (613) 941-4563
Mobile: (613) 447-4794
E-mail: mediarelations@cihr-irsc.gc.ca
