PLEDGE TO ADVICE QUIT TOBACCO – Interaction with doctors and paramedics of Bhardwaj Hospital
Schedule: 18th February 2023 Time: 2:30 pm onwards
An interactive session with enthusiastic members staff of Bhardwaj Hospital Sector 29, Noida as part of #oraloncologyconnect CME and #advisequittobacco was conducted
The program was arranged by Mr. Kunwar Chauhan and his team of MAX Vaishali Sales.
The program was coordinated by Dr. Saurabh Gupta administrator of the Hospital and Dr. Abhishek Kumar, a Physician with a special interest in tobacco related diseases.
The Interactive oral oncology connects sessions were attended by 53 doctors and paramedics.
Dr. Pawan Gupta M.Ch. Director HN MAX Hospital, Founder of ICanCaRe, and MASTER trainer convenor for Tobacco Courses interacted with the participant and gave the following messages to them
ORAL CANCER IS A PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM and all MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS TSHOULD JOIN HANDS TO CONTROL THIS EVER INCREASING DISEASE
Tobacco is a disease and not just an habit, it has to be treated as a disease.
Tobacco cessation is possible – Medical Treatment is available
SPECIALISED TOBACCO CESSATION SPECIALIST are now available and they should be consulted for cessation.
Courses are available and delivered by ICanCaRe for the doctors and paramedics.
Every hospital should have ORAL CARE and TOBACCO CESSATION CENTRE at prominent visible location.
Dr Pawan Gupta emphasized that it is a moral duty of all health care professionals to ADVISE QUIT TOBACCO to all their patients and others also.
There was special interest in knowing about tobacco-related cancers and how to control the same. especially in chewing tobacco which is so rampant in India. Dr. Pawan Gupta M.Ch. Director of Cancer Surgeons, MAX Hospital, Patparganj, and Vaishali, made them aware that quitting tobacco is possible and that one can quit tobacco with proper intervention by a Tobacco Cessation Specialist. TRISCaRe the innovative mouth opener device was also demonstrated. Dr. Pawan apprised that besides being a fine surgeon he is also the MASTER TRAINER of Tobacco Cessation courses run by Gujarat University and conducted by ICanCaRe.
The main emphasis was on involving the first echelon doctors for controlling the biggest killer cancer of India which is head and neck cancers and prevention with tobacco cessation and early detection by regular examination.
A treating doctor’s moral responsibility is to guide the patient to quit tobacco of any form. Second malignancy can be avoided. The same should be enforced each time the patient comes for a follow-up.
Call ICanCaRe Quitline 011-43077695 for a medically validated intervention to quit tobacco. Or visit any of the nearby ICanCaRe tobacco Cessation centers for intervention.
Quitting Tobacco Strategy and Capacity Building – ICanCaRe Protocol
Quitting tobacco is frustrating. And for a healthcare professional it is a challenge! Every day whatever discipline one is practicing, tobacco users, do visit your clinic. Most of the symptoms the patient has are also related to tobacco use – smoking, chewing, or vaping. The outcome of treatment is compromised if the person continues to use tobacco, thus losing trust with the patient.
It is also seen that a doctor who addresses the issue of tobacco with the patient and goes the extra mile in guiding the person to quit tobacco gains instant recognition from the patient and family. By doing this the doctor does gain directly and indirectly better value in society and definitely more clientele.
268 million people in India use tobacco in some form. The numbers are increasing every day. WHO reports that 70% of educated people who have taken tobacco for a substantial time wish to quit tobacco. They try it unsuccessfully by themselves and frustrated look for support from medical professionals. Medical professionals need to be skilled in tobacco cessation.
I am an Oncosurgeon, practicing for 27 years now. 70 % of my patient are tobacco addicts, as is the case with all other medical professionals, except a few branches. My initial intervention was restricted to just asking the person to quit tobacco. Beyond that I did not know, referring to the psychiatry department was not agreeable, and more importantly, the low quit rate was not acceptable. So, my journey into tobacco cessation began with a deeper understanding of the psychosocial and physical patterns of tobacco addiction and coming up with a successful ICanCaRe intervention model. ICanCaRe launched a comprehensive tobacco control program as SAVE the Youth Campaign.
QUITTING TOBACCO – is now easy
Tobacco addiction is multifactorial. The skill lies in assessing each of the components and balancing the issue with the patient. The intervention is individualized and is not a copycat prescription for all. The most important roadblock for every patient is the “Fear of Failure”. ICanCaRe incorporated all the components into digital format http://app.icancare.in and made it simple, scalable, and saleable. The balance lies in managing withdrawals, cravings, suffering, societal pressure, and managing medical issues. This intervention process is simplified as “ABCD of Tobacco CESSATION” which is Active Motivation, Behavioural intervention, Co-morbidity management, and Drugs and medications like Nicotine-Acetylcholine receptor agonists and supplements.
ICanCaRe E-pharmacy for tobacco medications is available to ensure timely doorstep delivery of the medications to ensure compliance. And more recently multilingual virtual clinics have been introduced to help guide remote patients. Quit tobacco is now just a call away – 011-43077695.
The ICanCaRe standardized protocol for cessation has been designed, piloted, and implemented to help individuals quit any form of tobacco and smoking with ease. This protocol is tailored to suit the individuals’ needs and habits so that adapting to the tobacco-free routine is easy and simple. More details are available at www.icancare.in/quittobacco.
Quitting tobacco is now available, feasible, and effective!
CAPACITY BUILDING – ICanCaRe Academy
Capacity building is the absolute need of the hour so that the HCPs are readily available across every corner of the country to offer help for a cessation to their patients. Every hospital needs to establish a dedicated cessation center with a dedicated team to offer assistance in quitting and oral examination.
ICanCaRe Academy – introduced the Certified Tobacco Cessation courses accredited with GUJARAT UNIVERSITY to train doctors and health care workers across India. Lots of trained skilled HCP and Tobacco cessation clinics are needed across India. Tobacco MARSHALs in society are trained influencers who motivate people to SAVE the youth. www.icancare.in/academy
The pillar of success for the program lies in visibly, available skilled and networked Health Care Professionals following a reproducible digitalized intervention for a successful outcome.
At ICanCaRe we are committed to SAVE the youth by sensitization, assisting them to quit, Volunteer Training, and Enforcing tobacco control.
ICanCaRe is here to stay with its innovative 360-degree intervention for tobacco cessation.
Collaboration and synergizing together are the way ahead to putting an end to this pandemic. ICanCaRe is open for collaborations with institutions, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, and tech-based institutions to amplify cessation across the country.
(The Author – Dr. Pawan Gupta M.Ch. is Director of Surgical Oncology at Max Super Speciality Hospital, Vaishali. Patparganj and Noida. He authored the book – Win Over Tobacco Made Easy, Be Smart Do Not Start and is highly recognized for his work on Oral Cancer and Tobacco Cessation. He is the convenor for the Certified Course in Tobacco Cessation at Gujarat University. He launched the #SAVEtheyouth campaign and Tobacco MARSHALs in the community)
