Table 3.
Narrative summary of main conclusions.
| Intervention | Effectiveness | Affordability |
|---|---|---|
| Brief opportunistic advice from a health‐care worker | This is an effective means of promoting tobacco cessation. The main issue is likely to be motivating and training health workers to deliver this intervention routinely as well as ensuring that the health‐care worker is not a tobacco user. It may be that offering help with stopping to all tobacco users provides optimum results | Globally affordable |
| Printed self‐help materials | This is an effective means of promoting tobacco cessation. It will be important to match intervention content as closely as possible to what has been found to be effective | Globally affordable |
| Proactive telephone support | This is an effective means of promoting tobacco cessation. Effectiveness will depend upon having in place appropriate procedures for selection, training, assessment and professional development of practitioners as well as evidence‐based treatment protocols | Globally affordable |
| Automated text messaging | This is an effective means of promoting tobacco cessation. It will be important to match intervention content as closely as possible to what has been found to be effective | Globally affordable |
| Face‐to‐face behavioural support | This is an effective means of promoting tobacco cessation. In many countries it may need to be integrated into existing services (e.g. tuberculosis screening). Effectiveness will depend upon having in place appropriate procedures for selection, training, assessment and professional development of practitioners as well as evidence‐based treatment protocols. Its effect appears to be broadly additive to medication if that is being used | Affordable in middle‐ and high‐income countries |
| Nicotine replacement therapy | This is an effective intervention when provided by a health‐care worker. Best results can be achieved by combining a transdermal patch with a faster‐acting form | Affordable in middle‐ and high‐income countries |
| Cytisine | This is an effective intervention when provided by a health‐care worker | Globally affordable |
| Bupropion | This is an effective intervention when provided by a health‐care worker. It is broadly similar in effectiveness to single‐form NRT | Affordable in middle‐ and high‐income countries |
| Nortriptyline | This is an effective intervention when provided by a health‐care worker | Globally affordable |
| Varenicline | This is an effective intervention when provided by a health‐care worker. It is more effective than bupropion and single‐form NRT | Affordable in middle‐ and high‐income countries |
NRT = nicotine replacement therapy.