The National Pharmacy Partnership for Tobacco Cessation (NPPTC) is a comprehensive national effort to provide pharmacists with the resources to empower smokers to stop their tobacco use.
The NPPTC is housed at American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) and funded by the Smoking Cessation Leadership Center and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. An action plan was developed at the National Pharmacist's Summit on Tobacco Cessation on October 21, 2004 in Bethesda, MD. Accomplishment of the action plan is dependent on the commitment of partnering organizations to help implement the plan.
The Partnership coordinates a multifaceted outreach and awareness program targeted at both pharmacists and patients in inpatient, outpatient, and retail settings. Planned activities include:
- Developing professional education and training programs for pharmacists on smoking cessation,
- Promoting the use of toll free phone counseling hotlines, also known as "quit lines," to smokers,
- Forming strategic alliances between pharmacists in inpatient and outpatient settings,
- Creating visual aids, including posters, flyers, and cards for posting in pharmacies, and
- Encouraging pharmacies to stop selling tobacco products.
The Partnership welcomes organizations, individuals and other stakeholders to become in involved and serve as champions to advocate and become spokespeople for the program.
Contacts
For more information about the NPPTC, please contact the following:
Frank Vitale
National Director
Pharmacy Partnership for Tobacco Cessation
University of Pittsburgh
School of Pharmacy
729 Salk Hall, Pittsburgh PA 15261
Telephone: (412) 383-7206
E-mail: vitalef@pitt.edu
Connie Revell
Deputy Director
Smoking Cessation Leadership Center
Telephone: (415) 502-4175
E-mail: connie.revell@ucsf.edu
Karen S. Hudmon, DrPH, MS, RPh
Department of Pharmacy Practice
Purdue University School of Pharmacy
Wishard Health Services, W7555 Myers Building
1001 W. 10th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-2879
Telephone: 317-613-2315 x 311
E-mail: khudmon@purdue.edu
Cynthia Reilly, B.S. Pharm.
Director, Practice Development Division
American Society of Health-System Pharmacists
7272 Wisconsin Ave.
Bethesda, MD 20814
Telephone: (301) 664-8664
E-mail: creilly@ashp.org