The availability of specialised quit support provided by the national stop-smoking program in Romania

Abstract

IntroductionQuit-smoking support is provided to Romanian smokers since 2007 through a network of stop-smoking centres. The study aimed to collect up-to-date information about the availability of psychological counselling and medication for smoking cessation at the existing specialised centres.Materials and methodsAll the stop-smoking centres listed on the program’s official website were contacted by phone by a trained evaluator introducing himself as a smoker in need of professional support.ResultsOf the 41 counties listed on the website, only 70.7% provided a contact phone number for the stop-smoking centre. While 56.1% of the centres answered the first or second call, the actual availability of quit support was confirmed by only 41.5% of the centres. The time till the first appointment varied between 1 day and 1 month. Psychological support and free medication for treating nicotine addiction were available in 36.6% and 14.6% of the centres, respectively.ConclusionThe availability of stop-smoking support at the time of the assessment was significantly limited.