Background and Context: In October 2012 as part of a comprehensive control program for tobacco control, an e- health service was implemented targeted to affiliates of Professional Council of Economic Sciences City of Buenos Aires.
Aim:To provide support and free online counseling to smokers in a population of 70 thousand affiliates.
Strategy/Tactics:The service consists of responsive and proactive telephone support , e- mail contacts , Facebook page, Twitter service and Web page. The services offer counseling and support, but when circumstances arise professional services of the Council are required .
Programme/Policy Process: In the first year, 1516 telephone calls were made to 490 affiliates. Of the total, 320 (21%) were incoming calls, while 1196 ( 79%) were outgoing calls, which means that for every call entered, four were calls response for controlling and monitoring.
A total of calls, 60 % had 0-5 min of duration, 16 % 5 to 10 minutes, 10% 10 to 15 minutes and 13 % over 15 minutes.
A total of 750 personalized e- mails were sent and 287 responses were received.
The Facebook service gives advice and opinions and is regularly followed by a growing number of people ( www.facebook.com / lineastop ).The website has averaged 100 hits per month ( www.lineastop.com ).
A total of 276 smokers are under treatment and 98 of them are in abstinence. The abstinence rate is 35,5 % in the first year.
Outcomes/What was learned: By using free tobacco quitline, Facebook, twitter and web page, 276 smokers were contacted and 35,5 % of them are in abstinence.