This award was created in 1991 in honour of the late Dr. Harold N. Segall, a founding member of the CCS who served as the society's archivist for many years. It is presented to an individual, group, or organization that has made a significant contribution to the prevention of cardiovascular disease or to the promotion of cardiovascular health in Canadians.

Dr. Andrew Pipe

The Deadly Puff of Smoke

Dr. Andrew Pipe, Medical Director of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute Minto Prevention and Rehabilitation Centre, takes quiet pride in the progress Canada has made on smoking cessation while acknowledging the work yet to be done.

"Cessation is the single largest modifiable risk-factor for cardiac disease," he emphasizes. "It's the most important thing smokers can do to dramatically improve their health." In Canada, older adults with smoking-related illnesses occupy 30 percent of hospital beds.

Pipe was an architect of the Ottawa Model for Smoking Cessation. The Model uses a systematic approach to identify smokers, offer cessation-assistance, address withdrawal symptoms and provide follow-up support. It integrates cessation into institutional practice and helps healthcare professionals recognize that cessation is their responsibility—regardless of their discipline or environment. Long-term cessation rates have been impressive: increases of 15 percent at the Heart Institute and 11 percent at some of the nearly 70 hospitals across Canada now implementing the Model.

Yet challenges remain, says Pipe, who has also been a career-long advocate of increased physical activity. His tobacco activities found their genesis in a campaign to rid amateur sport of tobacco sponsorship. His involvement in sport continues and he uses the credibility that comes from having been a physician at eight Olympic Games and team physician to the national basketball team to argue for enhanced approaches to physical activity in schools and communities.

"Physicians can be powerful advocates for preventive approaches in every community" he says. "Tobacco is a classic example… and there's much more to be done!"