Department of Health Gets in the Halloween Spirit

Just in time for Halloween, The City has apparently climbed aboard the paranormal bandwagon led by TV shows like Lost and Supernatural. In a new smoking cessation campaign aimed at raising awareness of the dangers of smoking, posters such as the one above (click image to enlarge), showing family portraits where one relative is fading into the background, will be plastered on subway billboards in Chinatown and Chinese print media. The tagline will read: "Don't Let Your Loved Ones Fade Away." The campaign was launched yesterday at a health education event hosted by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation at Gouverneur Healthcare Services on the Lower East Side. Pfizer has teamed up and donated a certain number of nicotine patches to be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis in the area.

"The smoking rate for Chinese men in New York City is as high as 36%, substantially higher than overall smoking rates for men in New York City," said Nhu L.Tran, MD, Director of Smoking Cessation Services at Gouverneur Healthcare Services. Their goal is a smoke-free Chinatown, but I think most Chinese looking at the billboard above will be more frightened of ghosts than of the danger of cigarettes. That baby does not look happy, but neither would we if we were being held by a specter.

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