* Celebrates 3rd anniversary as 'WHO Collaborating Centre'
Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has stressed that staff at its Tobacco Control Centre have continued to offer support and treatment services to tobacco-dependent patients wishing to quit smoking, despite the limitations imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Centre’s services, which are currently being provided over the telephone as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of Covid-19, include providing patients with treatment, medications and psychological support.
Officials from the Centre have revealed that in the last four months, between mid-March and mid-July, the staff have conducted over 2,600 consultations and support sessions with tobacco-dependent patients, according to a press statement by HMC.
This milestone coincides with the Tobacco Control Centre's third anniversary of being a WHO Collaborating Centre.
In 2017, HMC's Tobacco Control Center was designated as a WHO Collaborating Centre, the first in Qatar and the region. WHO Collaborating Centres, which also includes research institutes and parts of universities and academies, are designated to carry out activities in support of the World Health Organisation's mandated international health agenda.
While social distancing precautions remain in place, HMC's Tobacco Control Center will continue to offer telephone-based services. The mission of the Center is to provide health and medical advice to the public on the dangers of tobacco use, including the dangers of secondhand smoke, in addition to behavioral support and counseling for those wishing to quit the habit.
For more information on Tobacco Control Center or to book a consultation, one can call 40254981 or 50800959.
