The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

In 1997 when the then new Labour government came to power in the UK it promised action against tobacco. Within a year of taking office it was organising an expert seminar on tobacco, with many invited international experts, and drafting a White Paper, a policy paper on tobacco. Through a process which the author will describe, it was possible to get a chapter on treatment in the White Paper, and at the same time, the author was working, with colleagues to write England's first evidence based treatment guidelines on tobacco dependence treatment for the English healthcare system. This presentation will describe how these two processes – the White Paper and the guidelines – came together and resulted in the launch in 1999 of a treatment service for smokers delivered through the English National Health Service, free at the point of use, and how this deveoped into a truly comprehensive service with national coverage. The lessons of the experience will be presented with a view to discussing in this session how they may be relevant to other countries and health systems.