From 23–25 September 2012, global and regional teams from the WHO Tobacco Free Initiative in collaboration with international experts brought together country representatives from ministries of health and health professionals to:
enhance countries’ understanding and implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) guidelines on Article 14 concerning tobacco dependence and cessation
discuss how tobacco cessation can be strengthened in a cost-effective manner through: integrating such services into existing health structures; training health care providers to offer support and advice; and establishing national toll-free quit-lines
evaluate cessation services at national level, identify gaps and develop a plan of action for countries to implement and improve cessation services at country level.
Background
Tobacco is highly addictive. However, cumulative evidence has shown that tobacco cessation services can be an effective measure in reducing the use of tobacco. Yet, over 85% of the world's population does not have access to such services.
Why is access to tobacco cessation services limited?
How can the WHO FCTC guidelines on Article 14 and the MPOWEER measures help?
What is the link between quitting and increased restrictions on tobacco use?
How can support be provided to tobacco users attempting to quit?
Why are tobacco cessation services an obligation?
Why is access to tobacco cessation services limited?
Tobacco dependence treatment services are not cheap. Yet, to reverse the deadly and debilitating impact of an epidemic that kills nearly 6 million people every year worldwide they need to be made widely available and accessible.
How can the WHO FCTC guidelines on Article 14 and the MPOWEER measures help?
In response to the tobacco epidemic, WHO has developed guidelines for implementation of Article 14 of the WHO FCTC, and the MPOWER measures.
The guidelines are a technical and practical tool in one. They tell us what we need to know about tobacco dependence and provide us with a step-by-step account of how to evaluate and establish national cessation services.
The MPOWER package of six evidence-based tobacco control measures provides practical assistance with country-level implementation of effective policies that have been proven to reduce tobacco use and save lives.
What is the link between quitting and increased restrictions on tobacco use?
Political support for tobacco control is growing. Governments are actively taking steps to: ban tobacco use in public places; increase taxes on tobacco products; ban all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; and implement pictorial health warnings on tobacco product packaging.
As restrictions on tobacco use increase, so does the desire of tobacco users to quit. However, because tobacco dependence is a chronic condition that often requires repeated interventions and multiple attempts to quit, the help and support needed for tobacco users to overcome their dependence must be provided.
How can support be provided to tobacco users attempting to quit?
Integrating tobacco cessation interventions into well-established, well-funded health programmes improves access to effective tobacco cessation services and eventually increases the chances that a tobacco user will quit successfully. Also, providing training to health care providers in primary health care units enables them to deliver brief tobacco interventions and offer support to tobacco users wanting to quit.
Additionally, strong evidence has shown the effectiveness of toll-free quit-lines. They are practical to implement; they can be included in any advertisement or incorporated onto a tobacco product pack in conjunction with health warnings. Quit-lines also have the greatest chance of materially impacting the rate of quit attempts and quit success at the population level, when combined with other policy initiatives and measures.
Why are tobacco cessation services an obligation?
For tobacco dependence treatment and cessation services to be truly effective, one single policy or measure cannot work in solitude. Tobacco dependence treatment and cessation services must be part of larger national level interventions to control tobacco.
Many countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region have very limited resources for tobacco control, and inclusion of cessation activities into health system programmes is not yet considered a priority due to funding.
Tobacco dependence treatment carries financial benefits for society; it decreases health care costs and improves productivity, and is one of the most cost-effective preventive measures to reduce tobacco use. Providing tobacco dependence treatment and cessation services is thus an obligation for Parties and non-parties alike.
