Service Rationale
Launching Quitlines
Other Cessation ProgramsService Rationale
Background to Asian Pacific Quitline Network
The WHO FCTC article 14 Guidelines state in paragraph 13 that provision of tobacco cessation services should be carried out in active partnership with civil society and that all involved in providing cessation services must value sharing of experience (paragraph 15).
First Quitlines in UK and USA were started in 1988 and 1992, respectively. They are now acceptable means of delivering smoking cessation services as indicated by coverage and continuous increase in call volumes in Europe and North America. These services began to cooperate and share best practice informally and first and finally, they established the ‘European Network of Quitlines’ and ‘North American Quitline Consortium’ to formalize forum to share knowledge, introduce new
evidence base and share experience and best practice on providing cessation service via telephone. These networks and consortia have contributed to improving the quality of services as well as increasing effectiveness and accessibility of the services through the dissemination of evidence base and continuous evaluation of all aspects of the services.
In Asian Pacific countries, Quitline services have been considered as an appropriate intervention in providing for smoking cessation services. Many countries have launched their own services with or without governmental support.
Also, a few countries are piloting a Quitline service.
The Asian Pacific Quitline network was launched to share knowledge, best practice, and experience on Quitline operations in the region.
Brief Introduction on Asian Pacific Quitline Workshop
Goal
- Understanding the basic concepts and the role of Quitlie in decreasing smoking prevalence
- Share knowledge and experience of operating Quitlines .Network and offer support to each other
- Formalisation and launch of the Asian Pacific Quitline Network
Regular workshop
- Offering an opportunity to those countries that have considered launching their own Quitline to participate in the workshop and and gain insights
- To current Quitlines and opportunity in knowledge and skills transfer through sharing of experiences on Quitline operations in launching, promotion, development of programs, offering services, evaluations and research findings from different countries and resource settings.
- Raising awareness of Asian Pacific countries to the potential impact of Quitline on tobacco cessation and tobacco control, in line with WHO FCTC art 14
- Analysis of country reports presented by each Quitline service to highlight the current status of the service in each member country
- Gathering further information and material on improving the standard guidelines and minimal dataset for Asian Pacific Quitlines
- Discussing about role, form and future activities of ‘Asian Pacific Quitline Network’
Other collaboration
- Continuous collaboration and networking to share knowledge, experience, and other best practice on running effective Quitline operations and evidence based counseling
- Supporting countries that want to launch their own Quitline with standardized written materials and giving a chance for them to benchmark with other country cases
- Promoting Quitline service in each country in light of the diversity in their social cultural environment and resources
- Evaluation of Quitline service for quality assurance and service improvement with collaborative research
