In a bid to support those who want to quit their nicotine addiction, the Bali Province Health Agency announced today that the island’s community health centers will begin offering smoking cessation programs.
These health centers, locally known as puskesmas, will be equipped with a stop-smoking service with one doctor and one nurse stationed at each facility, according to the agency’s head epidemiologist Gusti Ngurah Sri Dana.
“A total of 120 community health centers,” he told reporters today in Denpasar.
The service will involve lung screenings and blood nicotine analysis. Professionals will then provide free counseling to patients in order to help them quit smoking.
Gusti said that 90 health professionals received training for the smoking cessation program last year, and 60 more will begin training this year. He added that the medical workers will also be encouraged to visit schools to prevent early smoking addiction.
The chairperson of Udayana Center for NCDs, Tobacco Control and Lung Health (Udayana CENTRAL), Putu Ayu Swandewi, welcomed the program, citing the center’s recent survey that showed 81 percent of the teenage smokers on the island expressed willingness to butt out for good.
Putu also said that the promotion of alternatives to cigarette smoking, such as e-cigarettes, is not the solution to the problem.
“Because it will only create new danger,” she said.
