Only 13 low- and middle-income countries offer smokers the full standard of quitting support recommended by the World Health Organization, leaving an estimated 1.3 billion people without access to effective care, the University of York said today, highlighting a new study by researchers there, at New York University and at Harvard University.
Tobacco remains the world’s leading cause of preventable death, killing more than seven million people a year, and more than 80% of smokers live in developing nations, where health systems face the highest disease burden but offer the least support to quit. Researchers found that while many governments claim to offer support, only 13 lower-income nations provide the WHO’s recommended combination of behavioural counselling and free or subsidised medication.
Examining countries including India and Vietnam, they found access to care is shaped heavily by local factors, including cultural norms, government policy, healthcare funding and political interference from the tobacco industry, and argue quitting programmes need to be tailored to each country rather than following a single global model.
Health and economic improvements
Professor Kamran Siddiqi, from the Hull York Medical School, said: “Healthcare services have a fundamental responsibility to treat people with tobacco addiction. Evidence shows that such interventions are not only cost-effective and easy to integrate but also drive substantial health and economic improvements.”
Professor Donna Shelly, from New York University, said: “Ensuring equitable access to comprehensive tobacco cessation support as standard care is a vital step towards preventing millions of tobacco-related deaths globally.”
The review, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, recommends low-cost measures including national quitlines, mobile health apps, community health workers, and routine screening during GP visits, such as the “Ask-Advise-Connect” system, alongside wider licensing and funding of proven cessation medications such as nicotine patches, cytisine and varenicline.
