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Smoking cessation programs have room for improvement

Prevention efforts have made inroads in lowering smoking rates, but any further reductions may require shifting the focus to those who already light up.

By Victoria Stagg Elliott, amednews staff. Jan. 6, 2003.

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Public health advocates never waver on the importance of smoking prevention efforts and are dedicated to the need to continue and even expand their reach. However, cessation programs geared to those already addicted may be a neglected area that requires more focus, according to an expert panel presentation during a meeting of the American Medical Association's Tobacco Control Coalition. The session was held during the AMA House of Delegates Interim Meeting in New Orleans last month.

Experts speculated that prevention efforts may have maxed out and that improved cessation techniques may be necessary to further reduce smoking rates. Current cessation strategies have low rates of efficacy, and there is little study of effective smoking cessation strategies for adolescents.

"The time may have come to work much harder on cessation. If we're going to move these numbers, we're going to have to do something about helping people quit," said Rosemarie Henson, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Office on Smoking and Health.

The panel also advocated better medical school training on smoking cessation and prevention. "We need core curriculum," said Stephen L. Hansen, MD, co-ordinator of the coalition and an AMA delegate from San Luis Obispo, Calif. "That should be something the AMA can help with."

In policy matters, the House of Delegates offered its support for legislation prohibiting smoking in public places and businesses. The AMA will also be updating its model legislation on the subject. In addition, the Association encourages individual physicians, medical schools, hospitals and clinics to endorse and lobby for local and state laws that further restrict smoking in public places.

A report on the dangers of passive smoking is due from the surgeon general late this year.

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