Behavioral change for tobacco addiction remains an unfulfilled dream
Of the 44.5 million adult smokers in the United States, 70 percent want to quit and 40 percent make a serious quit attempt each year, but fewer than 5 percent succeed in any given year. Effective tobacco cessation interventions are available and could double or triple quit rates, but not enough smokers request or are being offered these interventions. Nicotine is highly addictive and a major public health concern. A national, coordinated strategy for tobacco control that casts a wide net is needed to address this critical gap.
This was a key finding of an NIH state-of-the-science panel convened this week to assess the available scientific evidence on tobacco use prevention, cessation, and control. Full text of the panel’s draft state-of-the-science statement is available at http://consensus.nih.gov, including the panel’s identification of promising directions for future research.
Leave a comment