The clinic will analyse the severity of their addiction and will assess their current lung-function
Aster CMI Hospital has launched a smoking cessation clinic to aid people who are addicted to smoking and chewing of tobacco or other tobacco containing products in quitting the harmful habit.
The clinic will analyse the severity of their addiction and will assess their current lung-function. A smoking cessation clinic can be an easy and effective way to treat tobacco use and dependence. The clinic will provide consultation from doctors and will also offer both counselling and pharmacological options to those who are attempting to stop tobacco use. It will provide intensive treatments to smokers who are motivated to quit smoking and aims to ensure a high success rate among the people who are addicted to tobacco use.
Speaking on the launch of the clinic, Dr Sunil Kumar K, Lead & Senior Consultant, Interventional Pulmonology, Aster CMI Hospital, said, “As per a recent report by Global Adult Tobacco Survey 2, in India currently 28.6 per cent (266.8 million) of adults aged 15 and above are addicted to tobacco in some form. The study further highlights that among these individuals, 24.9 per cent (232.4 million) of the adults are daily tobacco consumers while 3.7 per cent (34.4 million) are occasional consumers. This research also highlights that every tenth adult in India smokes tobacco which indicates how tobacco use is fast becoming a cause of concern for the country. Tobacco use has now become a leading cause of pre-mature deaths and has become a major public health challenge. Even though many people are aware that tobacco use can increase the risk of cancer, however, there are still a lot of gaps on the other associated risks which this harmful habit can trigger. Therefore, with the launch of this Smoking Cessation Clinic, we at Aster CMI Hospital are strengthening our commitment to expand the reach of preventive healthcare and play a greater part in helping the public in curbing this illicit habit and enable them to take back the control of their lives.”
Sharing his views, Dr Srivatsa Lokeshwaran, Consultant – Interventional Pulmonology, said, “The COVID-19 crisis has made us realise the importance of living a healthy life. Recent studies have highlighted that smoke affected lungs find it harder to fight the coronavirus which makes smokers vulnerable to COVID-19 virus. Smokers are currently at a much higher risk of developing a severe disease with Covid-19 virus. Thus, for smokers and people who are addicted to tobacco, the pandemic is perhaps the best time to start afresh and quit smoking. The beneficial effects after quitting smoking can be felt as early as 20 minutes where one’s elevated heart rate and blood pressure drops.”
