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CAMPAIGN LAUNCHES FOR LUNG CANCER AWARENESS MONTH


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For Immediate Release

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Contact Information

American Legacy Foundation

Julia Cartwright

202-454-5596

jcwright@americanlegacy.org

(BPRW) NEW CAMPAIGN LAUNCHES FOR LUNG CANCER AWARENESS MONTH FOCUSING ON NATION’S NUMBER-ONE CANCER KILLER

American Legacy Foundation®, National Association of Broadcasters Launch Code Blue for Lung Caner, Including PSA with Former President Bush

(BLACK PR WIRE) (October 25, 2006) WASHINGTON, DC — A new national public service campaign, Code Blue for Lung Cancer, launches Nov. 1 for Lung Cancer Awareness Month. The partnership between the American Legacy Foundation® and the National Association of Broadcasters spreads the life-saving message that early detection, quitting smoking and the search for a cure can help make lung cancer history.

The Code Blue campaign is a comprehensive national effort to raise awareness about preventing lung cancer and increase survival rates for those struggling with it. Code Blue includes a 30-minute documentary that explores the devastating impact of lung cancer on four families and discusses how to reduce lung cancer deaths, primarily through early diagnosis and by quitting smoking. The campaign, in both English and Spanish, also includes radio and television public service announcements, a guidebook for local broadcasters, and an accompanying online component (www.americanlegacy.org/codeblue).

Code Blue is NAB’s first public service campaign to be produced in high definition and will be provided to local television stations nationwide for broadcast during Lung Cancer Awareness Month. The documentary was produced and directed by Academy-Award® winner Gerardine Wurzburg with State of the Art Inc.

“In continuing broadcasters’ proud tradition of community service, NAB and local broadcasters nationwide are proud to support this lifesaving effort to educate the public about lung cancer,” said NAB President and CEO David K. Rehr.

American Legacy Foundation CEO and President Dr. Cheryl Healton said the campaign will help reduce the stigma associated with lung cancer. Eighty-five percent of people diagnosed with lung cancer are current or former smokers, whom many perceive as having had the power to avoid a lung cancer diagnosis if only they had been able to quit. However, research shows two things: that nicotine is highly addictive, and that while 70 percent of smokers want to quit, but many lack the tools and resources to quit for good.

"No one deserves to have lung cancer. We're hopeful that the stories told in Code Blue will help all of us better understand America's number-one cancer killer,” Dr. Healton said. “If we are to beat it, we must learn how to limit our lung cancer risks by reducing the uptake of smoking by youth and increasing adult smoking cessation. Then, our best efforts as a nation must focus on early detection, increasing survival rates and ultimately finding a cure."

Code Blue for Lung Cancer Launches

Code Blue public service announcements include a message from former President George H.W. Bush, who says, “Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States. It's a national tragedy killing thousands each year, leaving behind devastated families. Cigarette smoking causes most cases of lung cancer. If you or a loved one smoke, get the help you need to quit now.”

Former President Bush has been a long-time champion with his wife Barbara, in the fight against cancer after losing one of their children, Robin Bush, to leukemia in 1953. Former President Bush co-chairs C-Change, formerly the National Dialogue on Cancer.

More than 30 members of Congress served as honorary co-chairs for Code Blue to call attention to the nation’s number-one cancer killer.

More information about lung cancer is available online at www.americanlegacy.org/codeblue, as well as through resource partners including the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association and the Lung Cancer Alliance. The Code Blue Web site offers details for the public and the news media interested in localized stories about the disease for Lung Cancer Awareness Month throughout November.

The Code Blue for Lung Cancer radio and television PSAs were produced by GSD&M of Austin, TX, the American Legacy Foundation’s agency of record for cessation advertising.

The American Legacy Foundation® is dedicated to building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit. Located in Washington, D.C., the foundation develops programs that address the health effects of tobacco use through grants, technical assistance and training, youth activism, strategic partnerships, counter-marketing and grassroots marketing campaigns, public relations, and outreach to populations disproportionately affected by the toll of tobacco. The foundation’s national programs include truth®, Great Start® and a Priority Populations Initiative.

The American Legacy Foundation was created as a result of the November 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) reached between attorneys general from 46 states, five U.S. territories and the tobacco industry. Visit www.americanlegacy.org.

The National Association of Broadcasters is a trade association that advocates on behalf of more than 8,300 free, local radio and television stations and also broadcast networks before Congress, the Federal Communications Commission and the Courts. Information about NAB can be found at www.nab.org.

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