Visit a smoking cessation clinic or call 12320 to find local services

Medications and regular follow-up support from professionals are two distinct components that work best together. People who take medication while receiving dedicated follow-up have nearly twice the quit rate of those who only receive brief advice. Phone support also helps: those who proactively call the smoking cessation helpline see their success rate rise by 20–30% compared to others.

A single clinic visit costs only a few to dozens of yuan. Behavioral support typically involves 4–8 sessions lasting 30–60 minutes each, totaling under 5 hours. Calling the helpline is completely free.

Across 52 trials involving 19,488 participants, the combination of medication and behavioral support led to a 1.83-fold higher quit rate than standard care or brief advice (RR 1.83, 95% CI 1.68–1.98; high-quality evidence). For the 43 trials conducted in medical settings, this advantage rose to 1.97-fold (95% CI 1.79–2.18). When looking at phone-based support alone: among people who called the helpline themselves, those receiving multiple follow-up calls had a 38% higher quit rate than those who only got informational materials or a single consultation (RR 1.38, 95% CI 1.19–1.61; 14 trials, 32,484 participants). For people who did not call the helpline but received scheduled phone support from researchers, the success rate was 25% higher than those without such support (RR 1.25, 95% CI 1.15–1.35; 65 trials, 41,233 participants). Both findings are supported by evidence of moderate certainty.

How to find local services in China: Search “China Smoking Cessation Platform” on WeChat to access a list of local smoking cessation clinics and helplines, or call 12320 to ask about nearby options. Most of the above trials were conducted overseas, and the intensity of services at local clinics varies widely; these figures should be viewed as general guidelines only. The recommended medications are listed in Section 3 of this chapter (“Smoking cessation medications”).

Stead LF, Koilpillai P, Fanshawe TR, Lancaster T (2016). Combined pharmacotherapy and behavioural interventions for smoking cessation. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 3, CD008286. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD008286.pub3；Matkin W, Ordóñez-Mena JM, Hartmann-Boyce J (2019). Telephone counselling for smoking cessation. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 5, CD002850. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD002850.pub4；中国疾病预防控制中心 (2021). 「中国戒烟平台」微信小程序正式上线：「在健康中国行动控烟行动工作组指导下中国疾病预防控制中心和世界卫生组织驻华代表处联合制作了中国权威戒烟资源库『中国戒烟平台』微信小程序。小程序内容主要包括：戒烟热线、戒烟门诊详细信息，以及线上戒烟服务资源等」；同一站点页脚标注「健康咨询电话：12320」. https://www.chinacdc.cn/jkyj/yckz/gzdt/202203/t20220310_296389.html