February 2004

Help for your patients to quit smoking

As you counsel patients to quit smoking, refer them to a new resource. The U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS) has announced plans for a national network f smoking cessation “quitlines” to give smokers access to the support and latest information in quitting.

According to HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson, 46 million adults in this country smoke. HHS will establish a new toll-free, easy-to-remember telephone number that will serve as a single access point to the national network of quitlines.

The program has three main components:

• States with existing quitlines will receive increased funding to enhance existing services.

• States that do not have quitlines will receive grants to establish them to provide their residents the tools that they need to quit smoking.

• HHS' National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cancer Information Service telephone counselors will provide assistance to individuals in states without quitlines.

Thompson said that scientific evidence has shown that quitlines are an effective tool to help smokers quit. Telephone counseling can significantly increase long-term quit rates compared to self-help materials alone.

The national network of smoking cessation quitlines is complemented by the HHS Web site, www.smokefree.gov , which provides access to quitline numbers currently offered by individual states and NCI. The site also offers an online guide to quitting, instant messaging with an NCI cessation expert and downloadable cessation guides.

Source: Department of Health and Human Services, www.hhs.gov

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