Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, two out of five people will be diagnosed with cancer, and 30 percent of all cancers are lung, and 80 percent of those are caused by smoking. Obviously, this is a good reason to quit smoking. And I'd like to know what services are provided in the Northwest Territories by the Department of Health and Social Services to help Northerners do exactly that? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I want to congratulate the Member on his 11 weeks of not smoking. As we know that smoking is -- yes, as the Member has mentioned, and there are a number of things that we have available for NWT residents who want to quit smoking. There is now -- we have merged the NWT Quit Line to 8-1-1, so it makes it a lot easier. The Help Line and the Quit Line have been merged together so you just have to call 8-1-1, residents who want to quit smoking or vaping, from any community in Northwest Territories, can speak to a registered nurse and trained support to help them on their quitting journey. The residents in Yellowknife region have access to free private cessation services either virtually or in-person, which is being piloted at the Yellowknife Primary Care Clinic. A dedicated cessation nurse is available to help residents navigate quitting smoking and vaping. They offer different options, including access to nicotine replacement therapy and prescription medications to support nicotine withdrawal as well as ongoing follow-up. But we also know that advice from a trusted health care provider increases the odds of a quit attempt.
I want to also let the Members know, and the people of the Northwest Territories, that we have also had education sessions for our frontline health care providers. In the last three years, we've had 63 frontline health professionals trained, and then we have ten more health care professionals trained in advanced -- for tobacco cessation support in the upcoming year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think the Minister answered most of my questions, so she's ahead of the curve. But I think you've spoken about this in the past, Mr. Speaker, but the Butt Head campaign was a very popular program and toured around the Northwest Territories, and I think kids really liked it as well. Why have we stopped promoting -- or using the Butt Head campaign -- antismoking campaign? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I fully remember the Don't Be a Butt Head campaign. This school-based smoking prevention program was delivered for about nine years as part of the healthy choices framework. In about 2015, there was a shift toward incorporating tobacco cessation into a broader cancer prevention and community wellness initiative. And therefore the funding for Don't Be a Butt Head was absorbed into other budgets. The department has continued to work with delivering supports in substance use and education in school. The new one that they have is the -- what they call The Dope Experience. So this amalgamates combined health information on different substances with mental health, community, and self-care tools using art to explore these themes. And so that's what's been incorporated into the school. This was completed with one-time federal funding related to the cannabis legislation. So that's how this was all created, and it should be running in the schools. The department is also aware that the NWT, as elsewhere in Canada, vaping is amongst -- is on the rise, and so we've been working with the community health representatives to support conversations about the dangers of vaping in the Northwest Territories, working with students, and trying to come up with new resources to gear them towards youth. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that's good news. Youth are definitely the gateway to how these companies make their money, how these addictions continue to plague communities. As I said, this year's theme for No Tobacco Day is youth step out and step -- Step In and Speak Out, with a hash tag, tobacco exposed. How is the department working -- or does the department promote No Tobacco Day, and are they participating in these events to spread awareness of how the industry is taking advantage of youth through social media? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department of health is very active on social media. I mean, it came to my attention that tomorrow is World No Smoking Day through the health and social services media campaign. So as for the information how it relates to youth, the youth are on so many different media platforms so I can't be -- I'm not familiar as to what platforms that they're targeting, but I know that it is on social media and, you know, we can be reaching out to all the schools to ensure that, you know, with The Dope Experience, that campaign, that covers all different areas that is being offered within our schools. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the costs to -- for nicotine replacement therapies can be -- and products like nicotine gum patches -- I used the patch. It was very effective. I've used them all, though. What financial supports do they have? Because certainly some of these products might not even be available in a small community. So what financial supports and how are we getting these products to individuals outside of regional centres? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the things that, within the small communities -- and I had asked this on numerous occasions to the department on different topics -- is with smoking cessations in the communities, the majority of the population in our small communities, you know, are Indigenous, so all of our insurances that we apply have with non-insured health benefits, Metis benefits, extended health benefits, they all cover smoking cessation. And from my understanding, we do supply those in -- we do have them in the health centres and so people, if they get the physician to -- or the nurse to have a prescription for them, they can access them in the small communities. You can access them here. You can go to the pharmacies in the regional centres where there are pharmacists. And if you have insurances and most government -- you know, if you work for the government or other insurances, they are normally covered. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
