Dr Ahmad Al Mulla, Head of the HMC Tobacco Control Center
DOHA: Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) new Tobacco Control Center will introduce an innovative service-laser therapy in the next couple of months. Laser therapy, a first-of-its-kind service by HMC, will be used to help people to stop smoking, said a senior official.
The laser therapy method for smoking cessation is based on the stimulation of specific points on the ears, face and hands that leads to the release of endorphins in the body which has a calming effect on the central nervous system, Dr Ahmad Al Mulla, Head of the HMC Tobacco Control Center, told The Peninsula.
“This release of endorphins also replaces the physical nicotine dependency and assists in relieving cravings, anxiety and other withdrawal symptoms associated with quitting smoking,” he said.
Any patient can undergo the laser therapy treatment to quit smoking. However, cancer and epileptic patients as well as pregnant women and patients who have undergone organ transplantation are advised not to use the laser therapy treatment for smoking cessation.
The Centre plays an important role in the fight to reduce increasing levels of smoking in the community and the long-term harmful effects of smoking.
It consists of four main pillars of clinical service, research, awareness and training.
The centre provides free preventive and curative services for smokers who want to quit that include the following prescription of medication (nicotine replacement therapy and others), behaviour modification through individual counselling sessions and follow-up (up to six months).
The centre located within the Hamad Bin Khalifa Medical City (building 311) opened in January but the smoke cessation clinic at HGH has been functional since 1999.
The centre consists of a multidisciplinary team including the director, smoking cessation specialists, clinical psychologist, clinical research coordinator, and awareness educators.
“Individuals who wish to book an appointment at our smoking cessation clinic can either call the centre directly on the following telephone numbers: 4025 4981, 4025 4857 or 5080 0959 OR call the call center on: 16060,” said Dr Al Mulla.
He also added that the centre also receives referrals from other healthcare facilities at HMC. “The visit to our smoking cessation clinic consists of individual consultations with specialised physicians, carbon monoxide (CO) monitoring, and prescription of the appropriate treatment method (medication or nicotine replacement therapy) depending on various factors such as medical history, level of nicotine dependency and level of CO as well as individual behavioural counselling sessions with a psychologist and on average four follow up sessions to ensure compliance,” he added.
The centre has four operating clinics per week as on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in Building 311 and on Wednesday in HGH.
“Since the opening of the clinics in Building 311 on January 21, 2018, the centre has served around 1,000 smokers in the past four months. This number includes new and follow-up patients as well,” said Dr Al Mulla.
The centre is a regional leader in smoking cessation programmes and research and has been officially designated by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
