Posted March 29, 2022. Past health advisories and alerts are archived for historical purposes and are not maintained or updated.
Take part in Take Down Tobacco National Day of Action this April by asking your patients about tobacco and nicotine use. Although use of e-cigarette and other vapor products has increased in recent years, smoking remains the single largest preventable cause of death and illness in the world. Smoking causes an estimated 480,000 (approximately 1 in 5) deaths every year. Nearly 34 million American adults still smoke cigarettes.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
Even brief advice from a physician to quit, 3 minutes or less, improves the likelihood of a quit attempt.
The Washington State Quitline provides free tobacco cessation counseling and medication to Washingtonians, helping them live longer, healthier lives. The Quitline is increasingly tailored to meet the needs of specific populations, from teens who vape to adults with serious mental illness. Still, more than 8,000 Washington adults die each year from smoking.
To refer a client to the Quitline, go to quitline.com, click ‘Refer A Patient’, and complete the form. The Quitline will call them within 48 hours to complete their registration and enroll them in a program based on their insurance status. Anyone, including health care providers, can call 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) to learn about available services. Washingtonians can text READY to 200-400 to register for free telephone counseling, as well as text- and web-based cessation support. More information for providers can be found at doh.wa.gov/ForPublicHealthandHealthcareProviders.
A recent evaluation estimated that nearly 35% of people who contacted the Quitline successfully quit within seven months after registering. Additionally, for every $1 Washington spends on services, it saves $5 in medical and other costs. A grant from the CDC enables the Quitline to provide free counseling and nicotine replacement therapy to uninsured and underinsured participants.
It is as important as ever to ask clients if they use tobacco, advise those who smoke to quit, and refer clients who are ready to quit to treatment resources, like the Quitline. Thank you for your ongoing commitment to your clients’ health, particularly during this challenging time. If you should have any further questions about local resources, please contact AJ Sanders: asanders@srhd.org.
Take Down Tobacco, a fresh take on Kick Butts Day, is the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids’ signature platform for empowering people to stand up and speak out against the tobacco industry. The Take Down Tobacco program is a 365 day a year effort that culminates every spring with the Take Down Tobacco National Day of Action.
