<strong>China: National 12320 Health Hotline to Provide Smoking Cessation Services Next Month</strong>

Source from:  TobccoChina Online 10/29/2013

The national 12320 health hotline will provide tobacco control services from October 2013, covering 10 provinces, including Beijing, Shanghai, Liaoning, Gansu and other 6 provinces and cities, and services will be expanded to nationwide by 2015 to provide smoking cessation counseling and guidance services for urban and rural residents with smoking cessation requirements for free, according to a report by Beijing Times.

At present, the number of smokers in China has accounted for 40% of the total number of world, and the number is increasing，according to Cui Ying, vice director of national 12320 administrative center.

According to Mao Qun'an, director of the national health and family planning commission propaganda division, 12320 hotline will provide smoking cessation services mainly from two aspects：information service and information support for. "Information service refers to raise public awareness of the dangers of tobacco, and medical services for smokers. Information support refers to provide information to smokers to help them to stop smoking timely.".

12320 as a national health service public welfare hotline, can provide health knowledge consultation drug price inquiry and make an appointment, medical service complaints, psychological crisis intervention services and so on for free. Enditem