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Record numbers of U.S. smokers are turning to telephone quitlines for help in breaking their addiction, but access to this critical service is being put at risk by state budget cuts, according to a report released today by the North American Quitline Consortium and other public health organizations.
The number of tobacco users calling quitlines—a telephone helpline where smokers can turn for trusted, reliable help when they want to quit—increased 116% between 2005 and 2009, according to the report.
Despite this increase in demand, total funding for all U.S. quitlines decreased for the first time ever in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010. The full report, U.S. Quitlines at a Crossroads: Utilization, Budget, and Service Trends 2005-2010, is available online at: www.naquitline.org/report. This report was produced with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Funding has been cut despite the fact that states will collect $25.1 billion in revenue this year from tobacco taxes and legal settlements with the tobacco industry, and more states have already enacted or are considering tobacco tax increases this year.
These increases will motivate more smokers to try to quit and provide additional revenue that states can use to fund quitlines and other tobacco prevention and cessation programs.
“At a time when demand for quitlines is at a record level, it is more important than ever to support proven tobacco cessation efforts,” said Linda Bailey, president and chief executive officer of the North American Quitline Consortium (NAQC).
“The investment of $2.19 per capita for quitlines, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,1 is based on sound science and real-world experience. States that made the necessary investments have been able to provide cessation services to the growing number of smokers who want to quit. We commend the states that have committed the necessary funding to quitline services and encourage them to continue this practice."
In late 2009, all publicly-funded quitlines in the U.S. were asked to complete a survey to assess their financial and service capacity.
The NAQC-administered survey included questions related to: quitline budgets; changes in budgets over time and their impact; funding sources; promotion and utilization of quitline services; and capacity to provide services to tobacco users.
The report shows that while quitlines have made tremendous progress in financial and service capacity, this progress is being put at risk by a seven percent decrease in total funding for all U.S. quitlines in FY 2010.
While federal and state economic conditions are difficult, the resources do exist to fully fund quitlines and comprehensive tobacco control programs consistent with the best practices recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
According to a recent report on how states are spending the money collected each year from the Master Settlement Agreement and other tobacco tax revenues, in “Fiscal Year 2010, the states will collect $25.1 billion from the tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes.
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