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The year ahead for UK smoking cessation
Robert West, Professor of Health Psychology and Director of Tobacco Studies at the Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Research Centre, University College London
Abstract
Approximately 25% of adults in the UK smoke. Some 50% tried to stop in 2006 and 2.5% will end up stopping permanently. The NHS Stop Smoking Services will have probably contributed approximately 25,000 to this figure (about 0.2% of smokers) and use of NRT bought over the counter probably contributed about 50,000 (0.4%). The year 2008 is the 10-year anniversary of the ‘Smoking Kills’ White Paper and represents an opportunity to take stock of past achievements and to assess how we can improve the support provided to smokers wanting to stop. We will make progress by 1) encouraging more smokers to try to stop, 2) getting more of them to use effective help that is available, and 3) increasing the effectiveness of those methods. The introduction of the ban on smoking in indoor public places, the development and introduction of new treatments and improved ways of using existing ones, removal of VAT from NRT products, and new NICE guidance on the Stop Smoking Services should all have a positive impact. However, to take full advantage of these opportunities the UK would benefit from a new strategic plan: a new ‘Smoking Kills’ policy document. Some ideas for what such a policy document might contain will be presented based on the 3Ts (Tension, Triggers and Treatment) model for promoting behaviour change. These include establishing a national tobacco control task force as an alliance of governmental agencies, NGOs, researchers and professionals, putting more effort and resources into increasing the financial cost of smoking to deter smoking in the young and encourage cessation, focusing advertising campaigns more closely on triggering quit attempts using effective methods, and developing smoking cessation specialists as a cadre of professionals within the NHS.
Biography
Robert West is Director of Tobacco Studies at the Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Research Centre, University College London. He started researching tobacco and nicotine use in 1982 under the direction of Michael Russell. His early research focused on the nicotine withdrawal syndrome but since then he has also contributed to clinical trials of behavioural and pharmacological aids to cessation, population surveys and cohort studies of smokers looking at patterns of smoking and smoking cessation, as well as surveys of health professionals examining attitudes, knowledge and behaviours relating to smoking cessation. He has also contributed to the development of national and international clinical practice guidelines on smoking cessation. He is Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Addiction. More information can be found at www.rjwest.co.uk.
Robert West
Director of Tobacco Studies
CRUK Health behaviour Research Centre
University College London
London
WC1E 6BT
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