Dimapur: The Nagaland Health and Family Welfare Department, under the National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP), launched an initiative on Friday in collaboration with Vital Strategies, New Delhi, to systematically integrate brief advice for tobacco cessation into routine primary healthcare delivery across the state.
A state-level capacity-building programme for master trainers to integrate brief advice for cessation at the primary level in Nagaland was held at the Directorate of Health and Family Welfare in Kohima.
To support health personnel in carrying out this mandate, officials released two key training publications: the facilitator’s guide for training health workers on tobacco cessation and the Nagaland reference manual for health workers, jointly developed by Vital Strategies and the state NTCP team.
Speaking on the occasion, Secretary of Health and Family Welfare S Tainiu called for tobacco cessation to become a regular part of healthcare services rather than remain limited to occasional campaigns.
“Primary healthcare workers interact with individuals at all stages of life. By incorporating brief advice into routine consultations, we can make tobacco cessation an accessible and continuing part of the services our health system provides,” she stated.
Tainiu also highlighted the vital role of inter-programme coordination involving community health officers, the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP), the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NPNCD), and the National Mental Health Programme (NMHP).
The day-long workshop featured technical sessions by Dr Upendra Singh Bhadauria, technical specialist (Cessation) at Vital Strategies, focusing on scaling brief advice during patient interactions, strengthening TB–tobacco linkages, and measuring and monitoring frameworks.
The event concluded with district action plan presentations, discussions, and the distribution of certificates to participating healthcare officers and master trainers.