Pune: The Army Institute of Cardio Thoracic Sciences (AICTS) has opened a first-of-its-kind dedicated smoking cessation outpatient department (OPD) to help serving armed forces personnel, ex-servicemen and their dependents quit smoking.The initiative was started after doctors noticed that several patients visiting the hospital with complaints of persistent cough and other respiratory problems were struggling to give up smoking. “During consultations, many realised they needed professional help,” a senior AICTS official told TOI.The clinic, operated by the respiratory medicine department, will function once a week and will be staffed by specialists from respiratory medicine, clinical psychology and psychiatry working in tandem. “Patients will be offered every evidence-based approach to help them quit smoking, rather than simply being advised to stop,” the official said.Doctors said the clinic would also help identify smokers at an earlier stage. “The objective is not only to treat smoking-related disease but also to prevent future disease by helping personnel quit. Early intervention can protect both individual health and military readiness,” a doctor said.AFMS doctors said tobacco dependence is a major concern across ranks, especially among personnel whose duties require sustained physical fitness and operational readiness, and those in high-altitude areas, extreme cold, deserts and other physically demanding terrains.“At high altitude, where oxygen levels are already low, compromised respiratory function can become an operational disadvantage,” a senior respiratory medicine specialist told TOI. Soldiers posted at high altitudes are vulnerable to hypobaric hypoxia, cold stress and heavy physical workloads.Global militaries have increasingly treated tobacco dependence as a readiness and occupational-health issue rather than merely a lifestyle concern. Smoking cessation programmes in several countries’ armed forces combine counselling, behavioural therapy and pharmacological support. “A structured cessation programme within the military healthcare system can therefore directly contribute to operational readiness,” said a public-health expert specialising in tobacco control.AICTS’ Department of Respiratory Medicine is among the oldest respiratory medicine departments in the armed forces medical system and treats patients with serious and complex respiratory conditions.
