Recommendations for New Zealand smoking cessation guidelines were formulated after a comprehensive literature review of smoking cessation interventions undertaken in November 2006. These guidelines are structured around a new memory aid (ABC) which incorporates and replaces the 5A’s (ask, advise, assess, assist, arrange). Healthcare professionals are prompted to ask about smoking status; briefly advise all smokers to stop smoking; and offer smoking cessation support which includes both behavioural (e.g. telephone and face-to-face support) and pharmacological (e.g. nicotine replacement therapy, nortriptyline, bupropion, or varenicline) interventions. Recommendations were also formulated for priority populations of smokers: Mäori, Pacific, pregnant women, and people with mental illness and other addictions.
