3 more region-specific tobacco de-addiction helplines to come up soon

The government will soon launch three more tobacco de-addiction helplines, a top health ministry official said today, adding that the facilities will be set up keeping in mind the linguistic diversity of the country.

The revised tobacco products packaging rules will be enforced from September 1, by which time the new helplines will also become operational.

Addressing the gathering on the first day of the national tobacco-control leadership programme in south Goa, Vikas Sheel, joint secretary of the health ministry, said, We already have one (tobacco de-addiction) call centre in Delhi, which was started in 2016. Three more will come up soon, work is underway. We plan to operationalise them by September.

"The new call centres will come up in Mumbai (Tata Memorial Hospital), Bengaluru (National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences) and Guwahati (Dr Bhubaneswar Borooah Cancer Institute). They will take care of different linguistic needs, as everyone does not speak Hindi or English.

"Mumbai centre will take care of Marathi and other west India languages, Bengaluru centre will operate for south Indian languages and Guwahati centre will take calls from north-east India."