Quit Smoking Program

Smoking is one of the major risk factors for some killing diseases such as CAD and cancer. However many people are involved with this intractable bad habit. Helping people get rid of smoking, therefore, should be included in the preventive medicine activities. This is true for Indonesia because Indonesia is the 5th country in the world with the biggest number of smokers. Understanding of how people being trapped in the habit, the impact of smoking to health, and the health technology available to stop smoking habit should be mastered by primary care physicians because they are expected to serve leadership in the combat against tobacco. Quit smoking program is an integration of cognitive therapy, behavioral therapy and pharmacotherapy aimed at cessation of the habit. The pharmacotherapy especially needed by the heavy smokers because the nicotine withdrawal syndrome is the factor responsible for the failure of the program. The knowledge on addiction process that happened in the smokers has brought up nicotine replecement therapy to the smoking cessation program. Varenicline, currently available in Indonesian market, is a partial agonist at nicotine receptor that can be used as pharmacotherapy in the quit smoking program.