Smoking Cessation Legislation

Smoking Cessation Legislation In Health System Management

Name of Student

University Name
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Background:

Today, smoking is seen as the most prevailing risk towards the health care system and

there is a need of prevention. Smoking causes a number of diseases, including cancer,

cardiovascular diseases, and many other health problems. It has been reported that smoking

causes more than 5 million deaths globally every year (World Health Organization: WHO report

on the global tobacco epidemic, 2009: Implementing smoke-free environments. , 2009). This

increased morbidity and mortality related with smoking exerts serious financial consequences in

a healthcare systems and economies (Lampert, 2011). Recent studies have shown that smoking

cause increased burden on medical facilities, and increased cost (Weng SF, 2013). Smokers face

the problem of increased medical cost for whole life. There is a need of smoking cessation

legislation to save the economy and reduce the burden on the health care system.

Introduction:

In the whole world, smoking is the most threatening and preventable cause of disease and

death. Smoking causes a number of health hazards including cardiovascular diseases, COPD and

also cause lungs, oral, larynx and stomach cancer (Lemmens, 2009). There is an obvious need of

making a proper legislation to reduce the burden on the healthcare system and the economy. In

the United States, the smoking rate has diminished in the past four decades. The government is

taking strong actions and making legislation to prevent the adverse effects caused by smoking.

There is a variation in legislation from state to state. Despite of decrease in smoking, there is still
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one in five Americans smoke cigarette regularly and utilize the health care system. There has

been consensus that if all the states have legislation like Utah and California, the burden on the

health care system can be decreased and less number of people would be smoking (US Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention. , 2010). There is a concern related to smoking policies as

nearly 80,000 to 100,000 kids start smoking daily. This problem is a global issue and needs to be

addressed. Smoking directly affects the health care system. The most commonly affect health

care systems are cardiology, the smokers develop serious cardiac diseases and this is doubling up

every year. A number of analyses have been taking place to find out the impact of tobacco

cessation legislation in improving the health care system.

Students have chosen this topic because smoking is popular among adults and there is a

need to address and make legislation to prevent easy access by teenagers to cigarettes. Another

goal of this topic is to identify direct and indirect cost caused by smoking on the healthcare

system and how smoking cessation legislation can reduce the cost on healthcare system and

improve the standards of health.

Literature Review:

The risk of mortality in smokers is high almost fifty percent of smokers die due to

diseases caused by smoking, the life duration of average smoker is reduced by 15-20 years.

Tobacco smoking causes an increased problem of lung cancer. After the World War II, lung

cancer increased rapidly and doctors are making reports to identify the cause of lung cancer. The

assessment of doctors, finds that the leading cause of lung cancer is smoking tobacco, this report

helps the federal government to find out environmental cause and make strong legislation for

smoking cessation. It is found that 85% of lung cancer is caused by tobacco smoking (Young RP,
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2010). The damage caused by smoking is huge and it is highly destructive for lungs, heart,

bones, reproductive system, hands, mouth and skin (Jemel A, 2008).

Smoking Cessation benefits on Health:

There is a consequential health impact of smoking cessation. The future risk of tobacco-

related diseases is reduced by stopping smoking. Making legislations will improve the life

expectance and increase the average life time up to 10 years (Young RP, 2010). Stopping

smoking is beneficial at any age. Nursing units can play an important role in counselling smoker

patients the health benefits of quitting smoking. The beneficial effects of smoking cessation are

appeared within the 24 hours, the heart rate, and blood pressure of the smoker begins to improve.

Impact on Direct and Indirect Cost:

Smoking increases the direct and indirect cost of the health care system. One of the study

conducted in Europe found that the hospital visits of smoker are increased and this leads to

overall increased cost. The utilization of pharmaceuticals is also increased and the costs of

pharmacy retail prices directly influence the budget of health care services. The indirect costs

were also reported to increase, the patient spends more days in hospitals utilizing the healthcare

facility.

Promoting Smoking Cessation:

The nursing staff in healthcare system makes discharge protocols for the patients who are

admitted to hospitals suffering from a heart attack, and other smoking related diseases. These

protocols didnt come close to the impact on the health of the patient through smoking cessation.

Physicians and other healthcare professionals can play an important role in promoting rational

medical therapy. The use of tobacco smoking should also be added to the patients problem
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category. In many clinics, nurses take the record of smoking as a vital sign of cardiovascular

disease in addition to blood pressure and pulse. Nurses are taught to put smoking in the major

problem category to help identify the cause of health disorders.

In healthcare systems a 3 Ts model is used to assess the behavior of smoker patient.

This model works when a smoker faces some motivational tension which trigger and initiate

smoking (Young RP, 2010). Analysis has shown that 70% of smokers are ready to quit, but only

three- seven percent are successful in quitting (Cigarette smoking increases colorectal cancer

risk., 2009). There is a need of multiple strategies, including legislation to achieve the ultimate

goal of smoking cessation.

The smoking cessation is a long term continued work-up with patients. Smoking cessation is

achieved by using alternative therapies including nicotine replacement therapy (Smoking Control

Programmes for Adults, 2015). The social support from friends and family is also important and

helpful to quit smoke. It is evident that a combination of several factors, including healthcare

counselling, social support, cultural contradiction of smoking in public, and making strict

legislations with increased taxes will ultimately lead to tobacco smoking cessation.

Policies of Smoking Cessation:

Stronger legislation in the act and making firm policies will help smokers quit smoking

and avoid is permanent. It has been seen that policies made based on the population; including

raising the price of tobacco cigarettes by implementing taxes and making laws to ban on

smoking in workplaces and public places leads to decrease in smoking prevalence. There are

many other strategies which are helpful in the cessation of smoking and improving the health
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care system. The major barrier to treatment access is the inability to provide coverage for

tobacco cessation services.

With the increase in tobacco smoking, an agreement was made in November 1998 known as

multi-state Master Settlement Agreement (MSA), according to which government will give

significant funds towards smoking cessation programs. The problem is that only three states are

funding tobacco prevention programs. Several states face the problem of identifying the priority

for funding either population-based or individual based cessation. The World Health

Organization has made a framework to address the smoking cessation as a global health

epidemic. All the stakeholders agreed upon Article 14 according to which necessary measures are

to be done to promote tobacco cessation, this will include funding of the cessation programs and

integrating smoking cessation services in healthcare systems and making national programs

(Tobacco Cessation, 2015).

The healthcare systems are facing problems due to financial burden states are cutting fundings

for smoking cessation programs and this is occurring at an alarming rate. Public health laws and

policy experts are making efforts to increase smoking cessation services in healthcare systems.

Nurses in healthcare Services:

Nurses are the vital part of healthcare professionals. They interact with patients,

prescriber and pharmacist. They can help a lot in improving the smoking cessation legislation as

they are in direct interaction with the patients. In this way they can reduce the burden on the

health care system by proper counselling of the smokers. Nurses provide education and proper

care to smokers and helps them in smoking cessation. Nursing plays a strong role model and

educator in proper legislation on smoking cessation (Tobacco Cessation, 2015). By using the
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principles of telehealth, nurses can help prevent the conditions like congestive heart failure,

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Providing education on the intensity of matter is very

important and nurses can play an important role in educating people and providing information

to smokers and non-smokers.

The involvement of the health care providers is important in smoking cessation intervention in

healthcare systems. The major factors associate with these interventions is accessible to smokers,

their level of training and commitment. Nurses are given special education to provide support in

smoking cessation programs. Healthcare authorities gives special attention to provide proper

training and education to different groups and provide funds for conducting seminars on smoking

cessation, according to legislation (Section 7) (Raw, 1998).

Role of Government in Smoking cessation:

There is a need of government funded research to improve the legislation on smoking

cessation. This will improve the health status of the public and reduce the pressure on the health

care system. Research conducted should take social and biological factors which are linked to

smoking. Mental health assessment is also important while making legislation for smoking

cessation. The local and federal government should push more legislation on smoking cessation.

Smoking cessation legislation will have a beneficial impact on Medicaid services and state

employees. Government has the power of legislation to provide coverage of smoking cessation

for all the health plans in all the states. The federal government and local governments are

striving hard to create an atmosphere that encourages smokers to quit. The government is

implementing heavy taxes, and FDA regulations of tobacco products.

Conclusion:
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In this section we can conclude that smoking cause lot of problems and pose a huge

burden on the health care system. Smokers suffer more problems related to cardiovascular health

and increased hospital visits. The rate of mortality and morbidity is high in smokers. Legislation

on smoking cessation is very vital in reducing the risk to the health of the public. Smoking

cessation can be achieved by imposing heavy taxes on tobacco products, strict regulation of

cigarettes and other smoking products in public places. Healthcare professional also plays an

important role in improving legislation on smoking cessation. Nurses are integral part of the

health care system and they can provide proper education to the patients regarding smoking

cessation and helps in identifying the cause of smoking. By improving the laws regulating

tobacco and controlling the tobacco products the burden on the health care system can be

reduced. The quality of life of patients can be increased. Government uses the power of

legislation to manage the impact of smoking on the health care system. Cessation of smoking

improves the quality of life and reduce the patient visits to hospitals.
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References

Cigarette smoking increases colorectal cancer risk. (2009, December 3). Retrieved from ScienceDaily:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091203090103.htm.

Jemel A, T. M. (2008). Annual report to the nation on the status of cancer, 1975-2005, featuring trends in

lung cancer, tobacco use, and tobacco control. J Natl Cancer Inst.;100(23), 1672-1694.

Lampert. (2011). Smoking - recent trends in adults. In GBE kompakt 2 (4) - Zahlen und Trends aus der

Gesundheitsberichterstattung des Bundes. Berlin: Robert Koch-Institut.

Lemmens, V. O. (2009). Effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions among adults: a systematic

review of reviews . European journal of cancer prevention, 17(6), 535-544.

Raw, M. M. (1998). Smoking Cessation Guidelines for Health ProfessionalsA guide to effective

smoking cessation interventions for the health care system. Thorax53(suppl 5), S1-S18.

Smoking Control Programmes for Adults. (2015, October 28). Retrieved from Health Promotion Board:

http://www.hpb.gov.sg/HOPPortal/programmes-article/2490

Tobacco Cessation. (2015, October 28). Retrieved from Public Health Law Center:

http://publichealthlawcenter.org/topics/tobacco-control/tobacco-cessation

Tobacco Cessation. (2015, October 29). Retrieved from American Nurses Association:

http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/WorkplaceSafety/Healthy-Nurse/Tobacco-

Cessation/default.aspx
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US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. . (2010, December 3). Retrieved from VitalSigns web

site: http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/TobaccoUse/Smoking/index.html.

Weng SF, A. S.-B. (2013). Smoking and absence from work: systematic review and meta-analysis of

occupational studies. Addiction, 108(2), 307-319.

(2009). World Health Organization: WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic, 2009: Implementing

smoke-free environments. . Geneva: World Health Organization .

Young RP, H. R. (2010). Smoking cessation: the potential role of risk assessment tools as motivational

triggers. Postgrad Med J. 86(1011), 26-33.