In a joint statement issued by FIP and the World Health Organization (WHO) today, on World No Tobacco Day, the two organisations urge national tobacco control programmes and pharmacy associations to develop and implement plans to engage more pharmacists in advancing tobacco cessation.

The statement sets out a number of ways to work towards this goal, including: providing joint leadership in developing policy guidance and resource mobilisation, undertaking training of pharmacists to enable effective delivery of tobacco cessation services, and promoting rational use of proven over-the-counter and prescription tobacco cessation medicines. “In response to the urgent need to help the over 1.25 billion global tobacco users quit all nicotine and tobacco products, this statement calls for a collaborative effort among healthcare professionals," said Vinayak Prasad, head of the No Tobacco Unit at the WHO. "Specifically, it advocates for national action to empower all pharmacists to routinely provide tobacco cessation support. If every pharmacist identifies and advises just one tobacco user to quit each day, this collective action could reach over 4 million users in a single day,” Dr Prasad added.

Today, FIP has also published a new global intelligence report on pharmacist-led tobacco cessation services. The report presents the findings of a literature review and a survey of FIP member organisations in 78 countries, shedding light on service availability, scope, funding mechanisms, remuneration models and regulatory frameworks. “We found that tobacco cessation interventions provided by pharmacists are strongly correlated with health outcomes, economic savings, increased health system efficiency and reduced burden on other healthcare sectors,” said Gonçalo Sousa Pinto, FIP lead for practice transformation and editor of the report. Access to the full report for FIP members only. An abridged version is available to all.