Tobacco.org

EDITORIAL: Increasing the Effectiveness of Tobacco Quitlines  

The alarming increase in tobacco use in the developing world has been paralleled by a rapid growth in cell phone access and use. As a result, quitlines will continue to play an essential role in the implementation of tobacco control programs throughout the world. This fact reinforces the relevance and need for research that delineates the processes and mechanisms underlying telephone-based cessation counseling. Because many developing countries will be unable to provide the access to cessation medications that is provided by quitlines in developed countries, communication processes will often be the only avenue for encouraging and facilitating cessation. The next generation of quitline research will need to address the cultural adaptation of quitline counseling and inform its implementation in limited literacy populations. Within the United States, our immediate challenge is to strengthen support for a fragile public health infrastructure that has demonstrated both efficacy and cost-effectiveness. Few technologies have as much potential to increase our reach and translate evidence into prevention both here and abroad.

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