Offering help to quit tobacco use is one of the six major MPOWER measures developed by the WHO to implement the WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control at a country-level. In accordance with Article 14 (Demand reduction measures concerning tobacco dependence and cessation), The Union advocates simplifying smoking cessation, expanding it widely through tobacco-free health services and working with communities in order to reach more people.

 

To support country-level implementation of tobacco-free health care, The Union has developed two key resources:

• Tobacco-free Healthcare: A tobacco-free future actions guide. It focuses on policy and system development for the routine provision of advice and support to patients to quit smoking. A tobacco-free health care training package with a facilitator's guide, PowerPoint slides and a flow chart accompanies the guide.

• Smoking Cessation and Smokefree Environments for Tuberculosis Patients. This guide presents an intervention that can be implemented within the DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment, Short course) strategy to help patients quit smoking and make their homes smokefree.

 

Between 2005 and 2008, The Union also implemented a World Bank-funded project 'Comprehensive Approach to Lung Health' in Benin, China and Sudan. Smoking cessation was one of the focal points of this project.