In an effort to encourage communication between smokers and their doctors regarding quitting, the CDC has launched a new campaign called Talk With Your Doctor. In partnership with the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Physicians, and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the CDC hopes that in addition to its Tips from Former Smokers Campaign, this campaign will result in these essential physician-patient conversations.
CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said, Although we ve made major strides helping smokers quit, it s still too often not part of the routine doctor visit. And that s what we want to help change with this campaign.
This communication becomes even more essential given that a National Health Interview Survey found that 70 percent of smokers want to quit. And a doctor is an important part of helping with that process. According to Dr. Tim McAfee of the CDC s Office on Smoking and Health, Physicians can also reassure patients who smoke that, although quitting is difficult, they can succeed, reminding them that more than half of all Americans who ever smoked have successfully quit.
ACSH s Dr. Gilbert Ross says, It s really a crime for physicians not to have this conversation with their patients, and it s not something that is so difficult to do that the CDC should need to develop a new campaign to teach physicians how to talk to their patients about quitting. This is also ironic, coming from the point of view of an individual who is openly anti-harm reduction, opposed to the products that actually have the potential to help smokers quit.
Dr. McAfee, as is the case with everyone in government public health, adheres tightly to the party line, insisting that when physicians counsel smokers, they stick to the seven evidence-based, FDA-approved cessation products. However, these products simply do not work often enough to be a real factor in helping smokers quit. In fact, a recent study published in the journal Tobacco Control, found that those smokers who had used nicotine replacement therapies to quit had the same relapse rates as smokers who did not use these products.
But Dr. Ross does go on to say, Nevertheless, if this campaign can have an impact in increasing communication between patients and doctors, there s no harm in having it run its course. But harm reduction products should be a part of this conversation.