COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF A TOBACCO QUIT AND WIN CONTEST IN SWEDEN

Tobacco is one of the major causes of premature deaths in the world, a nd any effort to improve the cost-effectiveness of smoking cessation i s worth while. The costs and effects in years of life saved (YLS) were estimated for a tobacco 'Quit and Win' (Q&W) contest in Sweden. The c ontest was conducted during the autumn of 1988 and included two strate gies: a national mass media strategy and an organization strategy for Stockholm County. A total of 12840 people participated in the Q&W cont est. The model for analysis included programme effects and programme c osts, and the data was presented in (YLS). Both effects and costs were discounted. Data about non-smoking participants after 12 months and t he number of spontaneous quitters was based on random samples of parti cipants and of the general population, respectively. The programme cos ts included intervention as well as evaluation costs, e.g. costs of pe rsonnel, campaign materials, distribution, prizes for the contest, ren t and administration and overhead costs for the project group and the collaborating organizations. The cost per YLS varied between US$188 an d US$1222. The Q&W contest, as a method of helping tobacco users quit, compares favourably with most preventive and treatment programmes, an d the method seems to be quite an effective way for society to use sca rce resources.