Alere Wellbeing Helps More Than 3,000 Tobacco Users on World No Tobacco Day

Alere division sets new record for live interventions and enrollments in a single day.

SEATTLE, Wash. June 6, 2012 — Alere Wellbeing set a new company record this past World No Tobacco Day by conducting 3,342 live tobacco interventions in a single day and enrolling more than 2,000 new tobacco users. The record-breaking attempt was part of Alere Wellbeing’s push to support World No Tobacco Day, an event originated and sponsored by the World Health Organization. Established in 1987, World No Tobacco Day is celebrated every May 31 to recognize the global fight against tobacco use. This year in response, Alere Wellbeing pledged to help at least 3,000 people overcome their deadly addiction.

So far, Alere Wellbeing’s Quit Coaches have helped nearly 300,000 tobacco users in 2012. For every one of those smokers who goes on to successfully quit, 14 years of life and more than $7,000 in productivity losses and medical expenses will be saved. The average quit rate for participants in Alere Wellbeing’s commercial program, the Quit For Life® Program, is 46 percent, almost 10 times higher than the success rate for smokers who try to quit without assistance.

“Alere Wellbeing is a leader in healthy behavior change, and our mission to help people live longer, more vital lives is more than just a company motto,” said Sandy Becker, President of Alere Wellbeing. “Our staff is passionately committed to helping others improve their health, and that has never been more evident than what we witnessed this World No Tobacco Day. It’s a privilege to work with such tireless, dedicated individuals.”

Tobacco use is one of the leading preventable causes of death globally, and is the number one cause of preventable death and disease in the United States. The global tobacco epidemic kills nearly 6 million people each year, more than 600,000 of whom are exposed to secondhand smoke. Unless countermeasures are enacted, tobacco use will kill up to 8 million people per year by 2030, according to the World Health Organization.

To find out more about Alere Wellbeing’s tobacco cessation program, visit www.alerewellbeing.com or www.quitnow.net.

About Alere Wellbeing
Alere Wellbeing brings together science, technology, and personal interaction to help people recognize and modify unhealthy behaviors to avoid chronic illness and live longer, more vital lives. Alere Wellbeing’s evidence-based programs address modifiable health risks that contribute to chronic disease: tobacco use, poor nutrition, physical inactivity, and stress. Current clients include 27 state governments and more than 675 health plans and employers, 75 of which are in the Fortune 500. Alere Wellbeing is known and respected for its pay-for-performance business model, intense focus on scalable service quality, dedicated account management, continuous program improvement, and transparent reporting of measurable outcomes at the individual participant and aggregate population level. Alere Wellbeing has contributed to more than 100 published research studies and maintains collaboration with the American Cancer Society® and an active research program funded by the Centers for Disease Control, American Legacy Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health. More information about Alere Wellbeing can be found at www.alerewellbeing.com.

About Alere
By developing new capabilities in near-patient diagnosis, monitoring and health management, Alere enables individuals to take charge of improving their health and quality of life at home. Alere’s global leading products and services, as well as its new product development efforts, focus on cardiology, infectious disease, toxicology, diabetes, oncology and women’s health. Alere is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. For more information regarding Alere please visit www.alere.com.

For More Information:
Reed Dunn
Alere Wellbeing
(206) 876‐2609, or e-mail [email protected]