Background
In 2019, population smoking prevalence in North Macedonia was one of the highest in the world at 46% (aged 15–64) [Brief physician advice is known to be effective in prompting a quit attempt, and also leads to a small but clinically significant increase in the chance of successful quitting even without the use of pharmacotherapy [In 2017, the International Primary Care Respiratory Group (IPRCG) led a Global Bridges funded “teach the teachers” programme in North Macedonia which trained GPs to offer very brief advice (VBA) to tobacco dependent patients. This included training to deliver behavioural support to smokers who are willing to attempt to quit smoking [