Initial results from the Arkansas Smoking Cessation Network program.

Tobacco use is the single most costly health risk behavior today. Although Arkansas has seen a significant decrease in smoking prevalence (28.5% in 1997 to 25.2% in 2000), low-socioeconomic (SES) populations in Arkansas continue to use tobacco at a high rate and suffer disproportionately from tobacco-related diseases. In 1998, nearly 14% of all Medicaid expenditures in Arkansas, a total of dollars 189 million, were spent on smoking-related illnesses. Smoking cessation programs produce greater short-term public health benefits than any other component of a tobacco control program. As part of a statewide tobacco control program, the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care, in partnership with the Arkansas Department of Health, has established intensive smoking cessation programs in 10 Community Health Centers and five rural hospitals throughout the state. Among the 852 participants enrolled in the first budget period, 221 completed a treatment program thus far, 180 terminated without completion and 451 are in treatment. Of those participants who completed treatment, 75% had quit smoking. This cessation program is clearly filling a demand for services and has the potential to significantly reduce the cost of smoking-related illness in Arkansas.