Anti-Smoking Campaign Levels Up

source: mb.com.ph

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will take its anti-smoking campaign to a higher level with the launch of a mobile cessation clinic to reach out to smokers in poor communities.

MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said the agency will unveil after Independence Day its mobile cessation clinic manned by highly trained nurses and qualified medical personnel.
The clinic targets to help smokers quit their habit with free counseling and lifestyle modification tips.

"We can now go around the metropolis offering advice to smokers, especially to those who really want to stop smoking but do not know how, or have no means to seek professional intervention," said Tolentino.

The mobile cessation clinic is a converted bus that will be deployed in areas with the highest number of smoking apprehensions.

Apprehended no-smoking violators may opt to be given on-the-spot counseling.
Tolentino said the violators will be shown a 20-minute audio visual presentation that highlights the dangers of smoking and gives easy-to-do tips on kicking the habit.
The MMDA already operates a cessation clinic that caters to its employees while strictly implementing a smoke-free environment policy at Makati headquarters.

Since its formal launch in July last year, the MMDA’s anti-smoking drive has netted a total of 31,730 violators, or an average of 142 apprehensions a day.

source: mb.com.ph