Free help to quit tobacco in India

Should I try to quit on my own?

You don't have to, and you're far from alone in wanting to stop. Over 60% of the world's 1.25 billion tobacco users, more than 750 million people, wish to quit. Yet 70% lack access to effective cessation services.^{Source 4}

WHO's advice is simple: stay connected and don't quit alone. Talk to a healthcare provider, ask for counselling, and use toll-free quit lines, text message programmes or mobile apps.^{Source 5} In India, you can get all of that for free.

What is the National Tobacco Quit Line?

It's the government's free phone line for quitting tobacco: 1800-112-356, toll free.^{Source 1} WHO lists it as India's national quitline.^{Source 6}

It started at the Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute in Delhi. Since 2018 it has expanded to regional centres at the Dr. Bhubaneshwar Borooah Cancer Institute in Guwahati, NIMHANS in Bengaluru and Tata Memorial Centre in Mumbai, with counselling in regional languages.^{Source 1}

Good for you if you want to talk it through with a counsellor, by phone, today.

What is mCessation?

It's the government's mobile programme for people who want to quit. You join by giving a missed call to 011-22901701.^{Source 2} WHO says India's mCessation programme has reached millions of users.^{Source 7}

WHO counts text messages, smartphone apps and internet programmes as digital tools that can be added to treatment or used to help yourself.^{Source 4}

Good for you if you'd rather get support on your phone than talk on a call.

What is a tobacco cessation centre?

It's a quit clinic. India's National Tobacco Control Programme calls for tobacco cessation centres in district hospitals, with free medicines and counselling. Counsellors in the AIDS and TB control programmes also offer help to quit at primary health level.^{Source 3}

The programme's list of centres, state by state, was last updated in March 2018.^{Source 8} Before you go, ask at your district hospital, or call the quitline, to find the nearest centre that's open.

Good for you if you want medicines, or help face to face.

Can a doctor help me quit?

Yes. WHO recommends that health workers routinely offer brief counselling, from 30 seconds to 3 minutes, in health-care settings.^{Source 4} So ask at your next visit, whatever it's for.

WHO also recommends varenicline, nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), bupropion and cytisine as treatments for adults who want to quit.^{Source 4} A doctor can tell you which, if any, is right for you.

Where does TobaFree fit?

TobaFree is paid. It's a private, one-on-one Coach on WhatsApp, run by The Alpha MD Foundation. You text it the second a craving hits, at 2 a.m. or after chai, in the language you speak, and it stays with you until the urge passes. It checks in daily and keeps count of your streak.

It's built for the few minutes a craving lasts.^{Source 9} That's the gap it fills. A clinic has opening hours, and not everyone wants to make a phone call in the middle of a craving.

What it isn't: TobaFree is behavioural support, not medical treatment. It doesn't prescribe medicines, and it doesn't replace your doctor, the quitline or a cessation centre. Use it alongside them.

Which one should I start with?

You can use more than one. Start with whatever you'll actually use this week:

• Want to talk to someone today? Call the quitline on 1800-112-356.^{Source 1}
• Want support on your phone? Give a missed call to 011-22901701 for mCessation.^{Source 2}
• Want medicines, or face-to-face help? Ask at your district hospital's tobacco cessation centre, or see a doctor.^{Source 3}
• Want someone to text the moment a craving hits? That's TobaFree.

Whichever you choose, the next craving is still only a few minutes long. What to do when a craving hits has the plan for them.