A National Action Plan for Tobacco Cessation:
The Work of the Cessation Subcommittee

In the summer of 2002, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson had asked Dr. Fiore to chair the ICSH Subcommittee on Cessation and charged the 16-member subcommittee with the responsibility of developing a set of bold, science-based action steps that the federal government could undertake to dramatically reduce tobacco use rates in America.

The subcommittee met on five occasions in late 2002 and early 2003, including three regional meetings in D.C., Denver and Chicago where more than 200 individuals provided testimony either in person or in writing. The subcommittee's report is a comprehensive plan that recommends both government programs and public/private partnerships.

The response of Surgeon General Carmona, the full committee and the public was overwhelmingly positive. After discussion, the full committee unanimously endorsed sending the report to Secretary Thompson. The report was presented to Secretary Thompson in July, 2003.

On February 3, 2004, the recommendations of the report were published in the American Journal of Public Health and unveiled at a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. The same day, Sec. Thompson announced his plan for a national quitline network, one of the plan’s recommendations.

The Cessation Subcommittee’s Work

Primary Recommendations of the National Action Plan

Fact Sheet

A National Action Plan for Tobacco Cessation (Entire document -- PDF)

• Research by the Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center
• University of Wisconsin Measures and Scales
• Tobacco and Healthcare Policy Research
• Clinical Trials: New Medication
• Additional UW-CTRI Research
• Links to Other Research Web Sites