Butt stops at cessation clinic in Tata hospital

Tucked away in the preventive oncology department of Tata Memorial Hospital, Parel, is the tobacco cessation clinic — one of the 18 such centres in India and the only one in the state — which provides aid to people interested in kicking the habit.

Research has shown that though 70% of tobacco users want to quit, they are in dire need of support while quitting due to the addictive nature of tobacco products. The clinic, founded in 1997 and upgraded by the WHO in 2002, aims to address this need, said doctors at the hospital.

“Tobacco users are assessed for the various psycho-social aspects influencing their tobacco habit. Scientific knowledge on the ill-effects of tobacco use is also imparted here,” said Dr Gauravi Mishra, consultant in preventive oncology at the hospital, who helps run the clinic.

But there is no miracle pill at the centre which can help you quit the habit all of a sudden, she clarified. Instead, the process involves individual and group counselling.

“Counselling intervention offered at the clinic aims at initiating the thinking process among tobacco users regarding their own barriers to tobacco cessation and facilitating a decision to quit tobacco. Group counselling the family of the tobacco addict reinforces the ‘quit’ habit and ensures compliance,” Dr Mishra said.

According to oncologists at the hospital, there are two major hurdles faced by the clinic — lack of awareness and absence of follow-up treatment. “While de-addiction centres like the Alcoholics Anonymous are well-known and are visited by a lot of people who want to give up alcohol, awareness about a tobacco cessation clinic is very low,” said Dr Mishra.

“The other problem is that we don’t get good follow-up of patients as most come to Tata from across the country, as well as abroad. For tobacco cessation, good follow-up is necessary,” said Dr Mishra.