ERS | monograph Introduction: Supporting tobacco cessation – from health policy to health system reorientation and patient care Sofia Belo Ravara 1,2,3 , Elif Dağli4, Paraskevi Katsaounou 5 , Keir E. Lewis6,7 and Charlotta Pisinger 8,9 @ERSpublications The Supporting Tobacco Cessation Monograph will guide clinicians in the implementation of smoking cessation in their every day practice, and update the reader on the policy and system changes needed for population-wide smoking cessation https://bit.ly/36Hn3YR In Europe and worldwide, respiratory diseases are an increasing burden to healthcare and societies [1, 2], despite being mostly preventable by tackling their risk factors [1–3]. Tackling risk factors is not only crucial in preventing diseases but also important to the management and treatment of most chronic diseases [3, 4]. Reducing harmful exposures and promoting healthy behaviours should be the first line and an integral component of therapy prescribed by healthcare providers for both prevention and treatment of respiratory and other chronic diseases [2–6]. 12 years after the launch of the first ERS Monograph on Smoking Cessation [7], tobacco remains the main and the most preventable cause of respiratory diseases, both in adults and children [2, 6]. The “big five” respiratory diseases (asthma, COPD, lung cancer, tuberculosis, pneumonia and other acute lower respiratory tract infections) are either caused or worsened by tobacco use and exposure to SHS [2]. Similarly, and despite amazing progress on the implementation of tobacco-control policies and the strong evidence for their immediate and long-term effectiveness and cost-effectiveness worldwide, smoking-cessation treatments remain poorly implemented in healthcare nearly everywhere [8–10]. Copyright ©ERS 2021. Print ISBN: 978-1-84984-127-6. Online ISBN: 978-1-84984-128-3. Print ISSN: 2312-508X. Online ISSN: 2312-5098. Correspondence: Sofia Belo Ravara, Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde – Universidade da Beira Interior, Av. Infante D. Henrique, 6200-506 Covilhã, Portugal. E-mail: sbravara@fcsaude.ubi.pt 1 CICS-UBI, Health Sciences Research Centre, University of Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal. 2 CHCB University Hospital, Covilhã, Portugal. 3 CISP Public Health Research Centre, Nova University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal. 4 Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey. 5 Division of Respiratory Diseases, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece. 6 Hywel Dda University Health Board, Llanelli, UK. 7 School of Medicine, Swansea University, Swansea, UK. 8 Centre for Clinical Research and Prevention, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark. 9 Danish Heart Foundation, Copenhagen, Denmark. https://doi.org/10.1183/2312508X.10026720 xi