Christopher Millett, one of the authors from the study from the Department of Primary Care and Social Medicine at Imperial College London, said: "Financial incentives introduced in UK primary care appear to have increased cessation advice being given by primary care staff and reduced the percentage of people with diabetes who smoke.

"Improvements were generally greatest in the groups with the poorest performance before these incentives were introduced and among ethnic minorities - populations that often receive lower quality care.

"Supporting people with diabetes to quit smoking is very important because they are at an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease" he added.

Deborah Arnott, Director of the health-campaigning charity ASH, commented: "This study backs up what we've always known, that patients listen to advice from their doctors. Unfortunately GPs are only currently being funded to give advice to stop smoking to patients who have already developed smoking-related diseases. GPs should be giving this advice to all smokers, before they develop specific smoking-related diseases. That's what the NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) guidance says, and that's what would be best for smokers and best for the NHS."

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Contact: Laura Gallagher
L.Gallagher@imperial.ac.uk
44-020-759-46702
Imperial College London
5-Jun-2007