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Smokers Encouraged To Give Up The Habit

by Medindia Content Team on Jan 13 2006 1:08 PM

Nicotine replacement therapy is being provided to people who wish to give up smoking in Ontario. As many as 14,000 people who are over the age of 18 years will benefit from this scheme. The program is being conducted by the Smoking Treatment for Ontario Patients (STOP) Study, which will also provide counseling free of charge. The program will also evaluate as to which quitting method is more effective, according to Center for Addiction and Mental Health’s (CAMH) Dr. Peter Selby.

This will also contribute towards refining the method of treatment. The study is jointly being conducted by the Ontario’s Ministry of Health Promotion, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare, and CAMH. The healthcare system of the Province incurs an expenditure of $1.7 billion annually as a result of smoking related illnesses, which also claims about 16,000 casualties. The province has a smoking population of 20%.

The research study is expected to contribute towards the good health of the people, and also protect them from the harmful effects of passive smoking. Giving up smoking altogether also results in better blood circulation. The information provided by smokers will be kept confidential. The researchers belonging to the addiction center will contact the smokers after a period of five weeks to enquire about the efficacy of the patches. The Health Promotion Ministry is expected to incur an expenditure of $3 million towards the program. Pfizer will take care of the supply of the nicotine patches.


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