The mission of the grant from the Office of Tobacco Control is to promote and protect the health of all Mississippians by reducing tobacco-related disease and death. The office accomplishes this mission by utilizing a systemic approach to tobacco prevention and control. Program components include:
State and Community Interventions
Tobacco Cessation Interventions
Health Communication Interventions
Each program component is developed and implemented based on evidence-based strategies and the recommendations outlined in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs.
Program Activities
State and Community Interventions
The Office of Tobacco Control implements a range of integrated programmatic activities to encourage and support tobacco-free lifestyles, which include the following:
Mississippi Tobacco-Free Coalitions
Community-based coalitions that work to prevent the initiation of tobacco use among youth, reduce exposure to secondhand smoke, promote tobacco cessation services, and eliminate tobacco-related disparities.
View all MTF Coalitions or those in North, Central or South Mississippi
Targeted Interventions
Community and statewide organizations which focus on specific populations or issues to reduce youth initiation of tobacco use, implement and enforce smoke-free air policy, and eliminate tobacco-related disparities.
Mississippi Targeted Intervention Organizations
Youth Programs
Youth tobacco prevention programs are implemented statewide to deter the initiation of tobacco use among school-age youth. The Office of Tobacco Control incorporates youth programs into community-based coalitions and organizations throughout the state, and provides youth advocacy and empowerment opportunities for junior high and high school students.
Reject All Tobacco! (RAT)
The tobacco-free program created especially for children in grades K-6
Generation Free
The youth empowerment program to promote a tobacco-free life, developed for students in grades 7-12
Tobacco Cessation Interventions
The Office of Tobacco Control offers both healthcare system-based and population-based interventions that provide services to the individual tobacco user, which include the following:
ACT Center
The ACT Center for Tobacco Treatment, Education and Research provides free face-to-face tobacco treatment to Mississippi residents interested in quitting. Eligible participants receive nicotine replacement therapies and prescription medications. The ACT Center is located in Jackson, MS with several satellite tobacco treatment clinics throughout the state.
ACT Center at the University of Mississippi Medical Center
Satellite Tobacco Treatment Clinic Locations
Mississippi Tobacco Quitline: 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669)
The Mississippi Tobacco Quitline provides free telephone-based tobacco treatment to Mississippi residents interested in quitting. Nicotine replacement therapies are available to eligible participants. The Tobacco Quitline operates Monday through Thursday from 8 AM to 8 PM, Friday 8 AM to 7 PM, and Saturday from 9 AM to 5:30 PM.
Health Communication Interventions
The Office of Tobacco Control implements a statewide media campaign to prevent the initiation of tobacco use among youth and to promote tobacco cessation services among all Mississippians who are tobacco users.
Tobacco Prevention Campaigns
Reject All Tobacco! (RAT)
The tobacco-free campaign created especially for children in grades K-6
Generation Free
A campaign to promote a tobacco-free life developed for students in grades 7-12
The Too-Late Show
A statewide tobacco prevention media campaign for youth in grades 7-12
Tobacco Cessation Campaign
A statewide campaign to promote tobacco cessation services among all Mississippians who are tobacco users.
Surveillance and Evaluation
The Office of Tobacco Control implements a surveillance and evaluation system to monitor and provide short-term, intermediate and long-term intervention outcomes to influence program and policy direction, ensure accountability and demonstrate effectiveness. The Office of Tobacco Control utilizes the knowledge and skills of public health experts and academic researchers to ensure advanced surveillance and evaluation practices are employed. State-specific tobacco control surveillance and evaluation data can be accessed at www.MSTobaccoData.org.
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
Collaborating with Partners
Mississippi Tobacco Control Network
The Office of Tobacco Control partners with tobacco prevention and control organizations to ensure a comprehensive approach. Information and Quality Healthcare, the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi, the American Lung Association, the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association are just a few of the many organizations that comprise the Mississippi Tobacco Control Network. This network consists of more than forty partners who created and implement the Mississippi Tobacco Control Five Year Strategic Plan to ensure strategies related to tobacco prevention and control are a collective effort and that populations with tobacco-related disparities are addressed.
