Doctors and other health-care professionals seem to be missing chances to help patients quit smoking, according to a report based on a large Canadian survey.

The 2005 government survey concluded half of smokers who visited health-care providers in the preceding 12 months got advice about quitting, suggesting that doctors, dentists and pharmacists need to take greater advantage of opportunities to provide such advice.

The report was published this week in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a public health journal by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. Its findings are based on a Health Canada survey of the smoking habits of more than 20,000 people aged 15 and older that suggested 19 per cent of Canadians smoked in 2005.

The journal's editors said opportunities for improved health were missed, considering 88 per cent of smokers reported visiting a doctor, dentist or pharmacist in that year.

"Health-care providers are in a unique position to offer smoking cessation advice and provide information on smoking cessation aids to their patients; however, the results of this analysis indicate that many of these opportunities are being missed," the editors wrote in a commentary in the report.

In 2002, more than 37,000 Canadians died from tobacco-related illnesses,  accounting for 16.6 per cent of all deaths, according to the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse.

"Barriers exist among health-care providers, including a need for additional training regarding smoking-cessation counselling, lack of time, low priority for tobacco-related matters and a perceived lack of interest in quitting among patients," the editors wrote.

 

With files from the Canadian Press