Integration of tobacco cessation in general medical practice: need of the hour.

Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death and disability. Tobacco use causes almost one million deaths annually in India, which is much more than the combined mortality due to malaria/TB and HIV/AIDS. It is estimated to cause one billion deaths in the 21st century, eighty per cent of which will occur in the developing countries like India. Tobacco use is increasing in the country. Global Adult Tobacco Survey, 2010, estimated that more than one-third of adults (35%) in the country use tobacco, out of which 21% use smokeless tobacco, 9% smoke and 5% use both. The prevalence of overall tobacco use among men was 47.9% and among women was 20.2%. Global Youth Tobacco Survey, India, 2009, estimate 14.6% of 13-15 years school going children use tobacco. There is urgent need for addressing the tobacco epidemic in India. Though effective interventions for tobacco cessation such as brief counselling, nicotine replacement therapy, non-nicotine pharmacotherapy are available, their use by general practitioners is restricted due to lack of adequate dissemination of information in their use. Use of these simple assessment tools and practice of these effective interventions by general medical and healthcare practitioners will go a long way in addressing the rising tobacco epidemic in India and making general healthcare more comprehensive.