Treating Tobacco use in Primary Health Centre (Tobacco Dependence Treatment)

Addressing Tobacco use in Primary Health Centre (Tobacco Dependence Treatment)

There are 27.5 crores adult tobacco users in India and this is a major public health challenge. Physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare providers (at the primary care) all have the potential to lead successful tobacco cessation interventions.

It is without doubt now that the most effective and low cost preventive intervention that a clinician can provide for tobacco using patients against heart disease, cancer, cerebrovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and tuberculosis is an empathic tobacco cessation intervention

Nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) have been shown to further double the chances of successfully quitting smoking when used in conjunction with physician's advice. There are many advantages of delivery of tobacco cessation services through designated primary care physicians. This will reduce the cost of long term care and patient will get help in determining the need for avoidable expensive treatment. Primary care practitioners are ideally positioned to intervene with their patients who smoke and use smokeless tobacco