Call off the habit

HYDERABAD: On the occasion of World No Tobacco Day, Nicorette® has announced the launch of a National Tobacco Cessation Quit Line - 1800 227787.The Global Adult Tobacco Survey (2009-2010) shows that one third of all adults in India use tobacco in some form or the other and over 35 per cent of them want to quit the habit. However, inaccessibility to treatment, lack of support and low levels of awareness has been the major hindrances in determining low success rates.The national quit line is a dedicated toll-free number that can be reached daily between 9 am and 9 pm from May 31 onwards. The quit line will provide free support and guidance to tobacco users to overcome their addiction and increase their chances of quitting successfully. It will answer queries, formulating a personalized quit plan depending on one’s tobacco consumption pattern (cigarettes, beedis and other forms of chewing tobacco) and will support  callers through the entire 12-week journey of quitting tobacco using a combination of phone calls, SMSs, emails and hand deliveries.Callers will receive tobacco cessation counselling in English, Hindi, Marathi,Gujarati and Bengali. This free of charge service can be used by all tobacco users, friends and families of tobacco users and even healthcare practitioners seeking to provide tobacco cessation therapy for their patients. To support the telephone counselling, callers wanting on-ground support will be referred to a local Tobacco Intervention Initiative (TII) centre of the Indian Dental Association (IDA).  At each centre, dentists trained in tobacco cessation will help tobacco users give up their addiction and improve their health. Currently there are 500 TII centers across India.A team of qualified counsellors, trained in tobacco cessation therapy will be available to provide information and guidance through the quit journey. These counsellors will help identify barriers that prevent users from successfully overcoming the habit. As trained professionals, the counsellors will also give additional advice on the need for tobacco cessation medication to help the quitters deal with their withdrawal symptoms better.    Nicorette®, based on the principal of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT), is a stop-tobacco quit aid in the form of a sugar-free nicotine gum. It allows tobacco users to take control of their nicotine craving and doubles their chances of quitting.