TOBACCO QUITLINE

Tobacco Quitline:

• The helpline 1800-11-2356 — started by the Union Health Ministry in April last year — is displayed on all tobacco products.
  
  
• The toll free Tobacco Quit-line Services [1800-11-2356] provides counseling and strategies for quitting tobacco use.
  
  
• Subsequently, the south Indian regional languages cell, NIMHANS Tobacco Quitline was started on September 11. It is monitored by National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) in Bengaluru.
  
  

mCessation Programme:

• The Centre’s ‘mCessation’ Programme to quit tobacco is a text messaging programme for mobile phone users. A person looking to quit tobacco can give a missed call to 011-22901701 after which, they will be sent a series of messages over several months.
  
  
• In a 2018 report published by the peer-reviewed online journal BMJ Innovations it was reported that the ‘mCessation’ programme in India had seen a 19% quit rate (estimated as not used any tobacco in the past 30 days).