AIIMS-Delhi starts tobacco cessation clinic from today

NEW DELHI: AIIMS-Delhi will start a weekly clinic from Tuesday to support individuals struggling with tobacco addiction, considered a significant public health challenge. The Tobacco Cessation Clinic (TCC), which will function at the New Rajkumari Amrit Kaur OPD building every Tuesday, is a collaborative effort involving the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC) and the Department of Pulmonary, Critical, and Sleep Medicine.

AIIMS-Delhi Director Dr M Srinivas highlighted that the TCC is a crucial step in creating a healthier environment as part of the "Tobacco-Free AIIMS" initiative.

According to a notification by AIIMS-Delhi Medical Superintendent Dr Nirupam Madaan, the clinic will be operational in rooms 519 and 526 in the Department of Pulmonary Medicine in the A-Wing of the fifth floor of the New Rajkumari Amrit Kaur OPD building from September 10 and on every Tuesday morning thereafter. Registration shall begin at 8:30 am on the ground floor of the A-Wing of the building.

Both walk-in and referred patients shall be able to enrol in the clinic, the hospital authorities said. D Anju Dhawan, the chief of NDDTC, AIIMS-Delhi, said the establishment of tobacco cessation services is a key objective of the National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP) and is in line with Article 14 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The Tobacco Cessation Clinic is designed to meet this need, offering comprehensive services that include pharmacotherapy, psychosocial interventions, and relapse prevention strategies, she said.

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Additionally, it will provide an ideal platform to educate, orient, and sensitize medical and nursing students at AIIMS-Delhi, Dhawan said. Dr Anant Mohan, Professor and Head of the Department of Pulmonary, Critical and Sleep Medicine at the hospital said tobacco use remains a leading cause of respiratory diseases such as COPD and lung cancer, with many patients struggling to quit despite serious diagnoses.

Dr Prabhoo Dayal, Professor and Additional Medical Superintendent, NDDTC, AIIMS-Delhi, added that tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death globally, responsible for over 8 million deaths annually, with more than 1.3 million lives lost in India each year. As the third-largest producer and second-largest consumer of tobacco, India faces a major public health crisis.

According to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey 2 (GATS-2), 28.6 per cent of Indian adults aged 15 and above use tobacco in some form. Notably, 55.4 per cent of smokers and 49.7 per cent of smokeless tobacco users are interested in quitting, and 92.4 per cent of all adults recognize the severe health risks associated with smoking. While more than half of adult tobacco users express a desire to quit, many find it difficult to do so without professional support.

Healthcare providers, as the first point of contact for many tobacco users, are uniquely positioned to offer the necessary motivation and assistance to help patients overcome their dependence, the statement said.