The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Introduction: It is estimated that there are over 1 billion tobacco users worldwide and the tobacco-related diseases causes 1 of 10 of total mortality. Quit And Win Campaign is a population-based strategy which brings anti-tobacco messages to large number of people in the form of international competition in tobacco cessation with aim to encourage people to quit smoking.

Objective: Evaluation of success of Quit And Win Campaigns in North-Backa Region (NBR).

Methods: Statistical evaluation of one-year follow-up surveys in 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004 campaigns when Serbia and Montenegro joined the competition.

Results: The success of Quit And Win Campaigns is reflected by level of motivation of participants to quit smoking. According to one year follow up survey of 1998 Campaign, the abstinence rate was 45.5% in NBR, in 2000 Campaign 41.6%, in 2002 47.7% and in 2004 abstinence rate was 35%. The most common reasons for relapse were stressful situations, withdrawal symptoms, smoking in the environment and the lack of support.

Conclusion Evaluation of previous Quit And Win Campaigns worldwide and one-year follow-up surveys showed that abstinence rate was 10-30%. Experiences on local level are very encouraging considering the fact that abstinence rate remains fairly constant (about 40%) in all of Quit And Win Campaigns.