In almost two decades of work in helping smokers kick the nicotine habit, Associate Professor Mohamed Haniki Nik Mohamed has worn many hats, ranging from service provider to trainer to policy advisor. In conjunction with World No-Tobacco Day (WNTD) on the 31st of May, we speak to Professor Haniki about his reasons for entering the field, as well as his work in expanding the MOH’s integrated quit-smoking service, mQuit.
HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN THE FIELD OF SMOKING CESSATION?
When I was doing my post doctorate fellowship in the United States, I recruited asthmatic patients, some of whom were smokers. I told them “you know, if you’re asthmatic, you should not be smoking; it will worsen your asthma.” They asked me if there were any medications they could take to quit smoking; I said I didn’t know, because I hadn’t learned much about smoking cessation at the time.
That was towards the end of my fellowship. Upon coming back to Malaysia in 1997 I started to look up this issue and realized there were many smokers in Malaysia at the time. As a pharmacist, I wanted to help them quit smoking effectively. So I got myself trained through a range of sources—including the Ministry of Health (MOH), and workshops, both local and international. I then put up a proposal to establish the first dedicated multidisciplinary smoking cessation clinic in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in 2001.
Through this clinic, we provided the service to USM staff, students and their relatives; we also became a smoking cessation training centre on a state and national level for other HCPs. It had a good quit rate; about 30 to 36% success rate after 1 to 2 years’ establishment. We were indeed thankful and proud that we clinched the best quit smoking clinic award in conjunction with the 2003 WNTD celebration in Penang.
Do you still head the clinic in USM?
No, my contract with USM ended in 2005 and I joined the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM). I again spearheaded the establishment of a smoking cessation clinic to provide services to IIUM staff and students. I also participated in the quit smoking clinic (QSC) at Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan (HTAA) Kuantan, particularly as part of teaching and learning.
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Denne historien er fra July 2018-utgaven av Health Today Malaysia.
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