IMU Launches Quit Smoking Service

Oral Health Clinic to champion initiative along IMU Healthcare and IMU

Kuala Lumpur, 22 Feb 2017 – IMU, today launched the IMU Quit Smoking Service (IMU-QSS) that is aligned with Malaysian National Tobacco Control Program based upon World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC) and MPOWER measures to reduce the consumption and demand for tobacco. Pending for approval by the Ministry of Health, IMU would be working as one of the M-Quit centres that supports the ministry’s pledge to reduce tobacco consumption by 30 percent in Malaysia by 2025. Dr Wan Mansur Hamzah, Director of Public Health from the Ministry of Health launched the IMU-QSS at the Bukit Jalil Campus along with IMU personnel represented by Prof Abdul Aziz Baba, the Vice Chancellor, Deans and project leader Dr Sobia Bilal from School of Dentistry. Speech by Dr Wan Mansur Speech by Prof Aziz Baba, IMU’s Vice- Chancellor “On behalf of IMU, I would like to congratulate the School of Dentistry for initiating the IMU-Quit Smoking Service and for collaborating with the School of Pharmacy and IMU Healthcare in helping our community to live smoke free,” said Prof Abdul Aziz Baba, Vice-Chancellor of IMU.

“The IMU as a group continually strives to be a Learning Organisation where it facilitates the learning of its members and constantly undertakes to transform itself. The IMU is, in and of itself, an organisation where its people work collaboratively and openly to achieve a common vision; in this case, it is to help patients improve the quality of life by quitting cigarettes.”

“Many of our patients in the Oral Health Clinic are smokers. Their dental problems have affected their health and overall well-being. And we hope with the setup of the IMU-QSS, we hope to offer them an effective solution to break the habit and remain so to achieve better health and improved quality of life,” said Dr Sobia Bilal, Project Leader and Certified Trainer for Smoking Cessation Programme in IMU. Quitting the cigarettes requires professional guidance and even medication. The IMU’s IMU-QSS is delivered through a multidisciplinary team including eight Certified Trainers for Tobacco Cessation from both School of Dentistry and School of Pharmacy and supported by IMU Healthcare and Oral Health Clinic.

“Smoking is not merely habitual. It’s an addiction. It takes more than will power to quit and many unaided attempts to quit fail as a result,” said Dr. Sobia at the launch.

Based on Malaysian Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) for Tobacco Cessation Program, IMU-QSS offers an evidence-based solution that seeks to maximize the success rate in any quitting attempts by smokers of various tobacco use history from new smokers to heavy smokers to relapsed smokers and etcetera. Services offered under IMU-QSS: • trained advisers to help patients decide when’s the best time to stop and how to succeed • regular sessions in the first few weeks after stopping to encourage patients to keep going • a choice of medications to suit each patient’s level of smoking and preference, available on prescription and free for first week of treatment • Carbon monoxide tests to keep patients motivated by showing reduced carbon monoxide levels in their blood after quitting. • Continued counselling throughout the quitting process to avoid any slip or relapse. Among the services offered by the certified trainers in IMU-QSS include consultation, screening, prescription of medication, carbon monoxide tests, nicotine replacement therapy, and follow up counselling for relapse prevention. The certified trainers will also guide patients through on how to involve family members and loved ones for moral support in dealing with withdrawal symptoms, mood swings in their journey to quit smoking. The patients will also be directed to identify their triggers and will be counselled for coping strategies.

The IMU-QSS is available at IMU Healthcare’s Oral Health Centre, Bukit Jalil Campus of IMU every Thursday from 9:15am to 12:15pm and resumes from 2:00pm to 5:00pm.

In addition to reaching out to the public, IMU-QSS is also available to IMU Healthcare’s existing patients from Oral Health Clinic, Medical Clinic, Chiropractic and Chinese Medicine Centres. IMU-QSS also caters for staffs and students as part of its IMU Wellness initiative.