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The National Cancer Institute (NCI) awarded $2.5 million in supplemental funds, in September 2005, to the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), Cancer Center to conduct nine research projects on smoking cessation quitlines. The overarching theme of the studies is to "Reach and Assist Underserved Smokers through Quitlines."
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched several initiatives designed to help Americans to quit smoking, including the development of the Tobacco-Free HHS Initiative and www.smokefree.gov. In addition, on November 10, 2004, former Secretary Tommy Thompson announced the establishment of the National Network of Tobacco Cessation Quitlines Initiative to ensure access to quitline services for all Americans. The toll-free number 1-800 QUIT NOW (1-800-784-8669) now serves as a single point of access to state-based quitlines.
Telephone-based tobacco cessation services, commonly known as quitlines, have emerged in recent years to provide cessation services at the population level. Evidence shows that quitlines are an effective tool to help tobacco users quit. Telephone quitlines can deliver a variety of resources, including counseling support and advice, regardless of geographic location, race/ethnicity, or economic status.
The new supplemental funds to the UCSD Cancer Center have the potential to make a significant impact on the research field by adding to the current knowledge base and leading to interventions that will address health disparities caused by tobacco use among smokers typically underserved by traditional cessation programs (e.g., ethnic minorities and lower socioeconomic populations). Quitline investigators from five institutions in the United States and Canada are collaborating on this ambitious effort.
More information about the subprojects can be found at dccps.cancer.gov/tcrb/subprojects.html.
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