There has been an alarming rise in tobacco use in the youth of the country. It is observed that medical colleges have become prey to such addiction and tobacco abuse extensively. Keeping this in mind the National Medical Commission (NMC) of India has released a circular dated 12.07.2024, to have Tobacco Cessation Centres in all medical colleges. This was issued with the approval of the Chairman of NMC.
The Commission has directed all hospitals attached to medical colleges to make provision for establishing these centers. This could be a special clinic run by the Department of Psychiatry or any other department in the college.
NMC has instructed that the Tobacco Cessation Centres should also be established in rural and urban health centers that the college has adopted for training. These provisions will also function as drug de-addiction centers. These centers are intended to promote public health and prevent the adverse effects of tobacco use.
Tobacco is used in India in smoking and smokeless forms. Smokeless versions are khaini, gutkha, betel quid with tobacco, and zarda while smoking forms of tobacco used are bidi, cigarette, and hookah. It is the most common cause of lung cancer in India. It starts as a fun activity but over time the inability to cope with stress eventually makes one addicted to one of the forms of tobacco. This initiative by NMC aims to strengthen the healthcare infrastructure by integrating specialized tobacco cessation services into the healthcare and educational framework.
Let's look forward to the implementation of this initiative which could promote well being in the domain of healthcare for all people engaged in medical colleges.
(Input from various sources)
(Rehash/Dr. Shreya Dave/MSM)