Quitting

Six out of ten Finnish smokers would like to kick the habit but far fewer make the effort. NRT availability and ‘interventions’ by physicians provide essential support.

Eight out of ten smokers surveyed said they were concerned about the health hazards smoking is causing them. 39 % of daily smokers smoker said they had tried to quit during the last year. In an effort to quit 16 % of smokers reported having used nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). The majority of smokers (79 %) of them had been advised to kick the habit .

In addition to support networks, free of charge telephone quitline and Internet site (www.stumppi.fi ) for smokers trying to quit and the regular Quit&Win competitions, a range of methods to help people stop smoking are now contained in the national evidence-based Current Care Guidelines. The first Guideline was issued in 1997, and since then a range of subjects have been covered.

The Current Care Guidelines comprise evidence-based recommendations on key medical issues. The Current Care Guideline was compiled on tobacco cessation, titled ‘Smoking, nicotine dependency and interventions for cessation’. The Guideline is a comprehensive description of factors that explain smoking, the diseases smoking causes and the processes of quitting.

Interventions essential

The Guideline stresses that ‘interventions’ by physicians and dentists definitely help patients stop smoking, and points out that healthcare professionals seldom take advantages of opportunities to counsel young people about tobacco.

Furthermore, the Guideline suggests that tobacco cessation treatment become part of all national guidelines and regional disease programmes in which the reduction of the use of tobacco products would make a difference.

Quit&Win

In 1985,started a smoking cessation contest – Quit&Win. This was a new method in efforts to reach large numbers of smoking in the population. The aim was to get smokers to abstain for a month and so qualify to take part in a prize draw.

The campaign combines several elements that have proved both popular and effective in attracting people who want to stop smoking. Follow-up studies show that about 20 % of people who took part in the contest and stayed the course were smokefree a year later.  QUIT & WIN -competition in Finland

Source:

Tupakointi, nikotiiniriippuvuus ja vieroitushoidot. www.kaypahoito.fi

Updated 3.3.2010.