Free consultation for smoking cessation
 
Thailand National Quitline (TNQ) partners with the National Health Security Office (NHSO) to provide free smoking cessation consultation to the beneficiaries of the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS)
 
Jintana Unipan, TNQ director, revealed recently that the partnership included free advice for smoking cessation via the 1600 hotline.
 
The partnership forms a network of hospitals and TNQ.

If hospital staff find patients with smoking problems, they will be referred to TNQ whose staff will call the patients to offer consultation for smoking cessation.
 
Jintana said the hotline focuses on encouraging smokers to change behaviors without relying on medicines and nicotine replacement therapy.

Around 80% of smokers who dialed the hotline were those who wanted to quit smoking voluntarily.
 
During the first call, the hotline staff will assert the level of commitment of smokers and connect them to smoking cessation experts if they show high commitment.
 
The consultation will cover various topics, including the methods of smoking cessation and finding the motivation to help patients succeed in quitting smoking.
 
The smokers will be monitored for a year through calls or text messages.
 
The record shows 32% of smokers quit smoking after having regular consultations with experts.
 
They continued to stop smoking for at least six months since the first day they made the commitments.
 
Without consultations and regular monitoring, only 3% of smokers can quit smoking.
 
“Collaboration with the NHSO means we have more alliances. We have adequate resources to help Thai people quit smoking. But there are a small number of smokers approaching us.
 
Partnering with hospitals will help us identify smokers needing help,” said Jintana.
 
“We want to help more people quit smoking and reduce the health expenditure relating to smoking-related diseases.”
 
The NHSO will pay 50 baht per hotline call to TNQ.


Each UCS beneficiary can consult with experts through the hotline as many as 12 times a year.
 
More than nine million people globally die from smoking-related diseases each year.

One million of those die from exposure to secondhand smoke.
 
In Thailand, around 72,000 people die from smoking annually, causing a 220-billion-baht economic loss.

The deadly diseases include lung cancer, chronic lung disease, health disease, and stroke.
 
The National Statistical Office Thailand reported that the smoking rate reduced from 20.7% to 17.4% of the Thai population in 2014 and 2017.
 
However, people experiencing secondhand smoke have increased especially on university campuses, showing more youths start smoking.
 
The number of affected people increased five times, from 2.6% to 14% in 2017 and 2021