Health-Care Provider Screening for Tobacco Smoking and Advice to Quit — 17 Countries, 2008–2011

Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable mortality in the world. Article 14 of the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) states that countries should promote cessation of tobacco use and adequate treatment for tobacco dependence. Health-care providers asking all patients about their tobacco use and advising tobacco users to quit are evidence-based strategies that increase tobacco abstinence. This report examines the proportion of tobacco smokers in 17 countries responding to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) who saw a health-care provider in the past year and who reported that a health-care provider asked them about smoking and advised them to quit. Respondents were tobacco smokers aged ≥15 years surveyed during 2008-2011 in Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay, and Vietnam. The proportion of smokers who had visited a health-care provider during the previous 12 months ranged from 21.6% in Egypt to 62.3% in Poland. Among these, the proportion reporting that a health-care provider asked if they smoked ranged from 34.9% in Vietnam to 82.1% in Romania. Among those screened for tobacco use, those who reported their health-care providers advised them to quit ranged from 17.3% in Mexico to 67.3% in Romania. In most countries, persons aged ≥45 years were more likely to report being screened and advised to quit than were persons aged ≤24 years. Health-care providers should identify smokers and provide advice and assistance in quitting at each visit as an adjunct to effective community interventions (e.g., increased price of tobacco products; smoke-free policies, mass media campaigns, and tobacco quitlines).