Quit Smoking

Working with VA's Office of Public Health, Women Veterans Health Care has created materials to spread awareness of the health risks associated with smoking and to encourage women Veterans to quit smoking.

Poster: Stop Smoking (454 KB, PDF)
Dimensions: 8" x 11"

Poster: Stop Smoking (527 KB, PDF)
Dimensions: 11" x 17"

Risks and Effects of Smoking

If you smoke, VA wants to help you quit. VA offers a variety of resources, including individual counseling, smoking cessation programs and prescriptions for nicotine replacement therapy or other medications. Don’t make smoking a lifetime habit. Let VA help you quit today.

An estimated 174,000 women are killed each year by cigarette smoking, most from smoking-related lung cancer. Women who smoke also have a higher risk for infertility and pregnancy-related problems like preterm delivery, stillbirth and low birth weight. And babies of mothers who smoke are at a higher risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

Avoiding second-hand smoke is also important. Pregnant women who are around cigarette smoke are more likely to have babies who are born prematurely or with low birth weight than women who are not.

Did you know?

• 2 days after you quit smoking, your sense of taste & smell improves.
• 1 year after you quit smoking, your risk of heart disease drops by half.
• 70% of smokers say they want to quit.

Learn more from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)* and the Health and Human Services Report of the Surgeon General.*

About Women Veterans

Women are now the fasting growing subgroup of U.S. Veterans. The number of women Veterans is expected to increase dramatically in the next 10 years, and VA health care is expected to be in high demand by the women Veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn. The Department of Veterans Affairs understands the health care needs of women Veterans and is committed to meeting these needs. Women Veterans served and they deserve the best quality care. Learn more about VA health care services for women Veterans.

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*By clicking on these links, you will leave the Department of Veterans Affairs Web site.