PHMC subsidiary Health Promotion Council (HPC) received a $100,000 award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for its “Think Twice” tobacco prevention campaign.
NIH’s Office of Disease Prevention sponsored the Quit & Thrive Challenge, which rewards community-driven solutions to reduce menthol cigarette smoking. HPC’s Tobacco Prevention division is recognized for its innovative “Think Twice” campaign educating tobacco merchants and the public about youth tobacco sales laws, to prevent underage access and reduce youth nicotine exposure.
Utilizing geotagging and the publicly available addresses of tobacco merchants, the campaign displays relevant ads about youth tobacco sales laws to each of its audiences when their phones enter a location that sells tobacco. Merchants see information about checking IDs and fines for selling tobacco to youth, while customers see information on how to report illegal sales of tobacco and potential fines for buying for an underage person. Learn more about the Pennsylvania Tobacco Merchant Education Initiative here.
This campaign is part of the Southeastern PA Tobacco Control Project (SEPA TCP), which is funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and operated by HPC. SEPA TCP delivers tobacco cessation, prevention, and enforcement services across seven counties in Southeastern Pennsylvania including Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lancaster, Montgomery and Schuylkill. To learn more, visit the Southeastern PA Tobacco Control Project.
