Bhopal
Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Shri Jadhav Prataprao Ganpatrao virtually inaugurated the Tobacco Prevention Centre (TCC) at Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal. Dean GMC Dr. Kavita N. Singh said that Dean GMC Dr. Kavita N. Singh inaugurated the Tobacco Prevention Centre (TCC) at Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal. Dean GMC Dr. Singh said that the hospital OPD will be operated on time every day in coordination with the TCC Center, Community Medicine Department and Mental Illness Department at Gandhi Medical College. Program nodal officer Dr. Shailendra Kumar Patne, psychiatric social worker Mrs. Divya Shukla and doctors of the Community Medicine Department will help in the consultation and treatment of patients suffering from tobacco-related diseases and people wishing to quit tobacco at Hamidia Hospital.
The Tobacco Prevention Centre (TCC) aims to provide awareness and medical services to patients to quit tobacco. This includes behavioral interventions, pharmacological treatment and rehabilitation strategies for tobacco users. Community awareness efforts will also be made by TCC. It is worth mentioning that tobacco use is a leading cause of death globally, causing more than 8 million deaths per year. In India alone, tobacco is responsible for about 13.5 lakh deaths every year. Tobacco affects almost every part of the body. There are three major diseases caused by tobacco: cancer, coronary artery disease and chronic obstructive lung disease. The worrying thing is that the number of deaths due to tobacco-related diseases is more than the total deaths caused by malaria, TB and HIV.
According to the latest data from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey, 28.6 percent of adults aged 15 years and above in India currently use some form of tobacco, while tobacco use among youth aged 13-15 years is 8.5 percent. Although tobacco use has declined across the country over the last decade, indicating that our tobacco control policies are moving in the right direction, we are still far from our goal of a tobacco-free India.
In this direction, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare remains committed to fighting tobacco use and protecting public health. In 2016, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched m-Cessation, a mobile-based service, and the National Toll-Free Quitline, which provides counselling in 16 languages to users who wish to quit tobacco.
In 2018, India furthered its commitment towards tobacco cessation by issuing guidelines for setting up and operating Tobacco Cessation Centres in dental institutions across the country. The aim was to encourage and support patients who were trying to quit the habit, while emphasizing that healthcare providers play a key role in identifying, motivating and counseling patients for tobacco cessation and abstinence. Now, taking this initiative a step further, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued ‘Guidelines for Setting up and Operating Tobacco Cessation Centres in Medical Institutions’. This is an important step towards making the country tobacco free.
