Institute: Office of Medical Applications of Research (OMAR)

Of the 44.5 million adult smokers in the United States, 70 percent want to quit and 40 percent make a serious quit attempt each year, but fewer than 5 percent succeed in any given year. Effective tobacco cessation interventions are available and could double or triple quit rates, but not enough smokers request or are being offered these interventions. A national, coordinated strategy for tobacco control that casts a wide net is needed to address this critical gap.

These were key findings of an NIH state-of-the-science panel that met June 12-14 to discuss the available scientific evidence on tobacco use prevention, cessation, and control. The 14-member panel included experts in the fields of medicine, general and pediatric psychiatry, addiction medicine, nursing, social work, population science, cancer prevention, minority health and health disparities, clinical study methodology, and clinical epidemiology as well as a public representative.

The panel found that smoking cessation interventions/treatments are even more effective in combination. Economic strategies, such as increasing the cost of tobacco products through taxes, were also found to be effective cessation therapies. The panel also discussed interventions to address health disparities, preventing the initiation of tobacco use, and the dangers of smokeless tobacco.

Next Steps
You can view the panel's entire draft statement online via the NIH Consensus Development Program Web site at http://consensus.nih.gov/2006/2006TobaccoSOS029html.htm. If you have questions, please contact Kelli Marciel at marcielk@od.nih.gov.