AIIMS Bhopal opens tobacco cessation clinic

Bhopal: To help patients get rid of tobacco addiction, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhopal has decided to open a first-of-its-kind dedicated Tobacco Cessation Clinic on its campus.  

The clinic was inaugurated by Dr Ajay Singh, Executive Director, AIIMS Bhopal. This clinic will be run every Wednesday from 3 to 4 p.m.

In this clinic, experts from six departments of AIIMS Bhopal – Pulmonary Medicine, Psychiatry, CFM, ENT, Dentistry and Radiation Therapy Oncology will jointly provide their services to rid patients of tobacco addiction.

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About 10 lakh deaths occur every year due to tobacco consumption, while every 6 seconds one person becomes a victim of death due to tobacco. India ranks second in tobacco consumption.

Dr Pankaj Goyal, Head of the Department of Dental Department, said that this clinic will be unique in itself, where integrated treatment will help in getting rid of tobacco addiction.

Expressing happiness, Executive Director of AIIMS Bhopal, Dr Ajay Singh said that to get rid of tobacco addiction, we have to work together cooperatively. Apart from this, awareness will have to be spread in schools and colleges and such an opinion will have to be created so that the young generation is not attracted to tobacco, reports TOI.

Sharing the initiative on Twitter/ X, Dr Singh said that the bad effects of tobacco indirectly affect society as well, and we have to create awareness of this also.

Tobacco Cessation Clinic is an initiative by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health of India. Tobacco cessation activities formally began with the opening of 13 tobacco cessation clinics in Anand, Bhopal, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cuttack, Delhi, Goa, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mumbai, and Patna in 2002. Tobacco cessation clinics were renamed tobacco cessation centres in 2005. Five more tobacco cessation centres were established in Mizoram, Guwahati, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Trivandrum, which makes a total of 18 centres.

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