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National Network Will Help More Smokers Quit
On November 10, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy G. Thompson
announced the launch of the National Network of Tobacco Cessation Quitlines, a
telephone-based smoking cessation program. The toll-free access
number - 1-800-QUITNOW (1-800-784-8669) - will put callers in touch with local
programs that can help them give up tobacco. In addition, the HHS Web
site - www.smokefree.gov - offers online smoking cessation advice and downloadable
information. The Web site was created by the Tobacco Control Research Branch of
the National Cancer Institute (NCI), with contributions from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention and the American Cancer Society.
The National Network of Tobacco Cessation Quitlines state/federal partnership is the first
effort of a larger collaboration that has the potential to have a major public
health benefit. With one easy-to-remember number, tobacco users in every state
will have the tools and resources they need to quit smoking.
"What starts as a
single puff can become a death sentence for millions of Americans," said
Secretary Thompson. "Americans want to quit smoking, and they should quit
smoking. These initiatives will help Americans kick the habit and save their
own lives."
Quitlines offer advice, support, resources for cessation
medications, and referrals to local cessation services. The national system
will route callers, based on their area codes, to available state-run
quitlines. Callers from states not currently providing quitline services will
be routed to NCI's quitline, operated by the Cancer Information Service. It
provides services in English and Spanish.
The www.smokefree.gov Web site
includes an interactive map with toll-free state quitline numbers and offers
instant messaging with an NCI tobacco cessation specialist. Other information,
such as a step-by-step guide to managing the process of quitting and
publications that can be downloaded, printed, or ordered, is available 24 hours
a day.
"Not smoking is the best way to avoid smoking-caused illnesses. But
quitting is the single most important step smokers can take to reduce the risk
of many cancers and other diseases," said NCI Director Dr. Andrew C. von
Eschenbach. "Smoking causes 440,000 premature deaths each year. It's associated
with at least 14 types of cancer, including lung cancer, acute myeloid
leukemia, and cancer of the larynx, cervix, prostate, pancreas, kidney,
and bladder, among others."
"People smoke for a variety of reasons," continued
Dr. von Eschenbach, "and different people need different resources as they try
to stop smoking. The new National Network of Tobacco Cessation Quitlines
provides access to trained quitline counselors across the country who can
assist smokers in their efforts to quit, and www.smokefree.gov supports both
immediate and long-term needs as people become nonsmokers."
Research published
in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2002 shows that people who used
quitlines in addition to self-help materials had double the cessation rates of
people who used self-help materials alone. Many smokers are more likely to use
telephone services than face-to-face programs because telephone services are
more convenient. Quitline services also have the potential to reach large
numbers of tobacco users, including low-income, rural, elderly, uninsured, and
racial/ethnic populations who might not otherwise have access to cessation
services.
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