New Delhi: If you are trying your best to kick your cigarette smoking habit, you may soon have an unexpected ally: the hospital.
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has directed all government and private hospitals to set up Tobacco Cessation Centres (TCC) in their premises.
According to the Health Ministry, the TCC will provide treatment to vulnerable patients such as pregnant women, children, adolescents and adults through behavioural interventions, pharmacotherapy and relapse prevention treatment.
TCC Instructions
These instructions have been cited in the latest government report on operational guidelines for setting up TCCs in medical institutions.
The directive is specifically for over 1,000 medical colleges and their affiliated hospitals (300 dental colleges and 700 medical colleges).
Going forward, there are plans to integrate TCC with allied health services like AYUSH.
Queries sent to the Health Ministry spokesperson remained unanswered.
Tobacco epidemic
In India, around 1.35 million deaths occur every year due to consumption of tobacco in various forms. Tobacco is dangerous for health as the highly addictive substance nicotine present in it affects various parts of the brain and nervous system.
According to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS)-2, although tobacco users, who understand the risks of tobacco use, want to quit, they are unable to do so due to lack of medical intervention.
Dr Vikrant Mohanty, Professor and Head, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Maulana Azad Institute of Dental Sciences (MAIDS), Delhi, said, “The three major diseases caused by tobacco use are cancer, coronary heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aim is to develop strengths in medical institutions, then establish a safety network to provide the necessary care to the patient, because once a person plans to quit smoking, he should know where to go and where to get possible care.” He further added that TCC in medical institutions will provide an ideal platform to educate and sensitize medical graduate students for lifelong prevention.
He said, “On an average, 30 out of 100 people consume tobacco in various forms. Moreover, GATS-2 survey says that 266.5 million people in India are consuming tobacco and more than 50% want to quit tobacco.”
Hospitals have been asked to collect data of such patients and inform the government for data analysis.
Provision of tobacco cessation is one of the main objectives of the National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP) and is in consonance with Article 14 of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
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Published: June 02, 2024, 09:41 PM IST
