Science Since Babylon. Derek J. de Solla Price. Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn., 1961. 149 pp. $4.50

Abstract

The eSCCAN project aims to federate smoking cessation clinics in Europe to share and improve practices. Method: Identification of eSCCAN experts in 26 of the 27 European countries has allowed to organize meetings and internet communication to reach a consensus among the smoking cessation clinics in Europe and to specify their number. Results: The current estimate is that there is about 2500 tobacco cessation clinics in Europe. A minority of them are centers of councelling to stop smoking without the possibility of prescription; a higher number is made of doctors9 offices or paramedics. The vast majority consists of tobacco cessation clinics with several health professionals and all facilities for smoking cessation. Examples of good and bad practices have been described on many topics such as rendez-vous delays, that must be less than 3 weeks for a first appointment. Some definitions have met consensus as the definition of healing, and in particular the period which defines a successful cessation. While waiting to close the debate, the recommendation is to record the cessation at 3, 6 and 12 months, with a particular focus at 6 months. A code and a self-audit in many languages are available on the website for a first evaluation of the activity of the consultations that will enable future improvement. Conclusions: The project provides real rapprochement eSCCAN knowledge to practices for smoking cessation in Europe that support in each country in Europe less than 10% of smokers, but disseminate knowledge and contribute to the assessment for teaching and research.