On the anniversary of ABC News anchor Peter Jennings lung cancer death, Diane Sawyer spoke with medical editor Dr. Timothy Johnson about the impact Jennings death had for smokers. He indicated that while they do not have exact numbers, ABC was overwhelmed with telephone calls and emails from smokers asking for help or saying they were going to quit smoking as a result of the loss of Jennings. There are 48 million smokers in the US, and 40 percent have tried to quit smoking. According to Dr. Johnson, only 20 percent of smokers who try to quit make use of aids available to help them -- patches, gum, antidepressants -- and only 5 percent of smokers are able to quit long term.
When Sawyer asked what message Dr. Johnson felt Jennings would want to convey to smokers, he said that Jennings would say, "keep trying, no matter how many times you try and fail to quit, keep trying -- each time you do is one more chance to become successful at quitting for good."
Dr. Johnson said Jennings, who admitted he was a heavy smoker for years before quitting, was a fighter. Dr. Johnson said Jennings would tell everyone who smokes to keep fighting to quit. ABC News has made the video of the interview, One Year Later: The Impact of Peter Jennings' Death, available online.
