A U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) panel said in a new report that few smokers use or have access to the stop-smoking interventions that science has shown to be most effective.

Researchers on a consensus panel on tobacco use said that successful quit rates could be two or three times higher if more smokers used nicotine-replacement therapy, telephone quitlines, counseling, or a combination of the three. They called for a broad national strategy to improve use of these interventions, including better targeting based on smokers' health disparities.

The 14-member NIH consensus-development panel also cited strong evidence for economic strategies to cut smoking, such as raising taxes on cigarettes and lowering the out-of-pocket costs of effective cessation therapies.

"It's important to recognize tobacco use as a serious, chronic health issue that requires sustained attention," said panel chair David F. Ransohoff, M.D., professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "Quitting is a struggle, but researchers have learned a lot about what works to help people quit smoking. We need to make sure that effective interventions reach the people who need them most."

The NIH panel said that preventing initiation of smoking is crucial to preventing future illness and death, citing media campaigns and price increases as effective preventive tactics. The group also raised a red flag about the recent interest in smokeless tobacco as a smoking alternative, saying that smokeless tobacco use carries its own risks, that data on the impact of smokeless tobacco on public health is lacking, and that increased marketing could increase use of such products in the U.S.

The panel's statement is an independent document and not a policy statement of the NIH or the Bush administration.