The World Health Organization has launched ‘Quit Tobacco App’, which aims to help people quit smoking and tobacco use in all forms.

The app, the first of its kind by the UN health body, and the only one that targets all forms of tobacco and helps users identify triggers, set targets, manage cravings, and stay focused on their journey to quit tobacco, according to a press release issued by WHO on Thursday.

“Tobacco is deadly in every form. Innovative approaches such as this app are much needed to support people who give up tobacco, which they may be aware is harmful, but are unable to quit for various reasons,” the statement quoted Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, regional director, WHO South-East Asia Region, as saying during the launch of the app.

Tobacco is the world’s leading cause of preventable deaths and kills nearly 8 million people every year. It claims 1.6 million lives in the WHO South-East Asia Region which is amongst the largest producers and consumers of tobacco products.

Tobacco use is a major risk factor for non-communicable diseases (NCD) including cancers, cardiovascular diseases, chronic lung diseases and diabetes. Tobacco users are also at higher risk of complications in the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

With a focussed approach to control tobacco use, as part of the regional flagship to reduce NCD burden, countries have been accelerating the implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and MPOWER package, a set of six cost-effective and high impact measures to reduce demand and supply of tobacco and tackle the tobacco epidemic.

As per the WHO Global Report on Trends in Prevalence of Tobacco Use 2000-2025 (4th edition, 2021) WHO South-East Asia Region recorded the fastest decline in tobacco use but continued to have the highest 432 million tobacco users, or 29 percent of its population. The Region has 266 million smokeless tobacco users of the 355 million globally. The growing use of new and emerging products such as Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems/ ECigarettes and the social use of sheesha/hookah are additional challenges to tobacco control.

The UN health body has expanded tobacco surveillance to monitor tobacco use and tobacco control policies. Thailand was the first country in Asia to implement Plain Packaging. Timor-Leste, Nepal, Maldives, India, and Sri Lanka have implemented large-sized graphic health warnings on tobacco packs.

Six countries have banned electronic cigarettes. Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka are working towards moving tobacco farmers away from growing tobacco. Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Timor-Leste have established and scaled-up tobacco cessation services.

Nepal’s STEPS survey 2019 shows that 28.9 percent of the population (both sexes) uses tobacco. Of them, 24.1 percent use tobacco on a daily basis.

The ‘WHO Quit Tobacco App’, launched during WHO’s year-long ‘Commit to quit’ campaign, is the latest tobacco control initiative by the WHO South-East Asia Region.