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Followup evaluations a year later show the percentage of daily smoking decreased by about 25 per cent.

After hearing about the program’s initial success, the Public Health Agency of Canada expressed an interest in expanding it to additional jurisdictions.

Ottawa Public Health followed up with a funding application last fall, which — if approved — could see Ottawa’s own program expand from eight sites to 26.

OPH would also lead the five-year, $3-million initiative, and partner with provincial agencies in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario, as well as the Canadian Cancer Society’s Smoker’s Help Line, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit.

“We’ve never really done anything quite like this,” said Sherry Nigro, OPH’s manager of health promotion and disease prevention. “It’s really gratifying.”

If all goes according to plan, the program could eventually be available to workers on more than 100 construction sites across the country, she said.

“The appetite is clearly there and the effectiveness is there,” Nigro said.

The funding proposal is still pending PHAC approval and also requires the city’s board of health to sign off at next week’s meeting.

The PHAC funding also requires private-sector participation.

OPH has already secured in-kind and financial support from a national construction company to advance projects on its sites across all locations, while additional private-sector support has been identified to ensure the availability of nicotine-replacement therapy in the form of patches and gum.

The OPH project was initially launched with the help of one-time funding from Ontario’s Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

Nigro said the project could help reduce tobacco use among construction workers and “reinforce Ottawa’s reputation as a national leader in progressive tobacco prevention and control.”

mpearson@ottawacitizen.com

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