New Orleans, LA, July 29 – Boat People SOS (BPSOS), which helped thousands of Louisianans survive the worst of Hurricane Katrina, is now turning its sights on an even more dangerous hazard: tobacco smoke.

“Katrina took a terrible toll of 1,577 people in Louisiana in 2005, but 6,400 Louisianans die from smoking-related diseases every year,” said Tony Tran, manager of the New Orleans branch of the national nonprofit BPSOS. “We want to lower those horrific numbers both within the Vietnamese-American community and beyond, and we’re grateful to The Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living for helping us with a $20,000 grant to develop and implement a tobacco prevention and control advocacy program.”

BPSOS’ role in the state-wide campaign will be to reach out to the Vietnamese-American community with carefully crafted messages that bring home the full health and economic impacts of tobacco use. At the same time, a whole array of community groups will be hard at work getting the word out to other segments of the population.

“We see higher rates of tobacco use and related diseases among certain populations as a result of the tobacco industry’s deliberate and strategic targeting of communities,” said John Butts, New Orleans Regional Coordinator for The Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living. “We are thrilled to be working with BPSOS this year through a 2008-09 Community Program Grant award to increase awareness about the health consequences of tobacco use among the Vietnamese-American population, to bring attention to the tobacco industry’s blatant targeted marketing efforts, and to build the capacity of individuals and organizations to advocate for tobacco-free policies that protect all Louisianans.”