The legacy of the Washington State Quitline
Reflections on the Quitline’s 20th Anniversary
In November 2000, Washington state launched a new telephone-based service to help people quit smoking: The Washington State Quitline. Now, 20 years later, quitline services are a vital part of state, national, and international public health efforts to help millions of people stop using tobacco, save money, and live longer, healthier lives.
The Washington State Quitline has a storied history — a legacy impacting lives locally and globally.
The legacy
Research behind the Quitline started in the 1980s at the Group Health Cooperative (GHC) in Seattle. Early studies showed that in-person counseling methods could be similarly delivered over the phone. GHC researchers later found that people who were offered phone counseling and medication — for free — were more likely to use them and more likely to quit successfully than people who paid for them.
In 2000, the Washington State Department of Health used funds from the Master Settlement Agreement to partner with GHC to make phone counseling and medication available, for free, to all Washingtonians; the Washington State Quitline was born.
As Washington state shared its success in the early 2000s, many other states followed suit. The number of state quitlines grew quickly. Research continued to show that quitlines provided effective and cost-effective smoking cessation therapy. This research supported the inclusion of tobacco cessation services in the Affordable Care Act.
Tens of millions of calls have since been received by the national quitline number, 1–800-QUIT-NOW, including over 310,000 from Washington state. Millions have successfully quit smoking.
The impact of Washington’s quitline leadership reached global proportions. From 2011–2017, Washington state researchers partnered with the Quitline service provider and the World Health Organization (WHO) to develop tools for low- and middle-income countries to establish and operate toll-free quitlines and train staff. Today, tobacco quitlines are a key cessation component in Article 14 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
Looking ahead
With budget challenges dating back to the 2008 downturn, Washington State Department of Health staff have worked hard to sustain the Quitline. With only federal funding available, the department implemented other cost-effective programs, like an innovative smartphone app, to help more people quit smoking and vaping.
Today, we celebrate Washington’s pivotal role in the creation, development, and spread of quitlines. For 20 years, the Washington State Quitline helped people quit tobacco by providing free counseling, medication, and other services — all over the phone.
Programs like the Quitline are a proven way to provide remote delivery of health care services, which are more important now than ever. Ripples from this effort continue to improve the lives of millions of people in our state, our country, and in the world. Although we still need to do more to realize the full public health potential of quitlines in Washington, we are building on a strong and deep legacy.
Any Washingtonian can register for Quitline services by:
- Calling 1–800-QUIT-NOW (1–800–784–8669); or
- Going to quitline.com; or
- Texting READY to 200–400.
Providers can also refer their patients for services at quitline.com.
— Story provided by Tim McAfee, MD, MPH (Former Director of CDC Office on Smoking & Health and Washington State resident). Read Dr. McAfee’s full reflections here.
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