India's tobacco addiction problem highlights, Medical experts push nicotine replacement(heatsticks supplier heat not burn) therapy.

India is home to 100 million smokers and accounts for more than 20 per cent of tobacco-related deaths worldwide, affecting families, livelihoods and national productivity. Medical experts in India emphasize that better access to nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) can be effective in helping individuals quit smoking(tobacco heatsticks manufacturer).

Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) has become a key treatment

According to a recent report, experts believe that in order to tackle the problem of tobacco addiction in India - which causes more than one million deaths every year, accounting for 9.5 percent of the total deaths in the country. Comprehensive tobacco control strategies are therefore essential, including improved access to tobacco withdrawal methods, public education, and the use of approved therapies such as nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). This plays a key role in this fight, with NRT having been in use for 25 years and having a 50% higher success rate in helping smokers quit than unassisted attempts.

The urgency of access

Dr Chandrakant S Pandav, former head of the Department of Community Medicine at the Medical College of India anda Padmashri Prize winner, stressed: "We need to urgently improve public access to tobacco withdrawal methods in India."

With 28.6 per cent of adults smoking in India, these challenges are more persistent in remote and rural areas, he said, so "NRT must be made available over the counter in pharmacies." Easy access makes it more likely that people will succeed in quitting."

It requires a combination of psychological and physical treatment

Unlike nicotine in cigarettes, NRT provides a temporary alternative(hnb heatsticks supplier) to nicotine, helping to control cravings, ease withdrawal symptoms, and aid the transition to a tobacco-free life. NRT ensures a gradual and controlled increase in the amount of nicotine in the blood and prevents abuse.

Dr Sajeela Maini, a tobacco withdrawal, alcohol withdrawal and mental health specialist at Gangaram Hospital in New Delhi, says: "Replacing nicotine products with cigarettes is the most effective way to reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms. We must address both the psychological and physical aspects of tobacco addiction to ensure successful cessation."

However, a proposal by India's Pharmaceutical Technical Advisory Committee to change NRT from being sold over the counter to requiring prescription purchase has sparked heated debate among academics, who argue that such a move could reverse progress in the fight against tobacco addiction and go against the advice of leading global health authorities. Medical experts who advocate for NRT emphasize that making tobacco a prescription drug would limit the benefits of those who are trying to quit and hamper the government's tobacco cessation goals.