...Tobacco dependence treatment specialists...now have an unprecedented opportunity to reduce tobacco use rates in the United States and consequently the burden of illness, death, and economic cost resulting from tobacco use. This opportunity is the result of an unusual confluence of circumstances: 70% of smokers now want to quit smoking completely, and 46% try to quit each year1; more than 70% of smokers visit a heath care setting each year2-4; and effective treatments now exist....[The] Guideline provides specific recommendations regarding brief and intensive interventions...designed to promote the assessment and treatment of tobacco use. (for the full text of this article click here)
 

• Is available online in its entirety, or by four page Executive Summary;
• Provides suggestions for criteria used to evaluate cessation programs;
• Is the result of thousands of peer-reviewed articles published between 1975 and 1999;
• Gives specific recommendations regarding brief and intensive tobacco cessation interventions and their programs, in support of those who treat clients and assess programs.
   

The PHS Guideline is essential for those in the business of treating tobacco-dependent clients. The Guideline comes to the following major conclusions:

• Those who are dependent on tobacco products have a chronic condition
  
  
• Tobacco dependence requires need long-term treatment
  
  
• There are effective treatments for tobacco use and dependence. They are:
  
  
  • Brief interventions (a few minutes of counseling or education about tobacco use)
  • Counseling that emphasizes practical strategies
  • Social support in addition to a program
  • Social support without a program
    
    
• Doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals should document in a systematic way the intervention or treatment they provide
  
  
• There is a strong correlation between success of counseling and amount and intensity of counseling received
  
  
• Pharmacological therapies are effective and should be prescribed, assuming there are no contraindications
  
  
1. The first-line FDA approved therapies are:
   
   
   • Bupropion/Zyban/Wellbutrin (sustained release)
   • Nicotine Replacements
     
     
2. Second-line therapies are not FDA approved, however they may be appropriate after first line medication have been used or considered

Counseling and pharmacological treatments are cost-effective. Health insurance plans should use these treatments and offer reimbursement to their members.