The implementation of the second-generation Smoking Cessation Program in March 2012 has helped nearly 48,000 smokers quit smoking, including a middle-aged woman who had a 39-year history of smoking, the Health Promotion Administration said yesterday.
“Smoking cessation not only takes strong determination, but also the right methods,” Health Promotion Administration Director Chiu Shu-ti (邱淑媞) said. “The program has a cessation aid network that includes more than 2,600 hospitals, clinics and community pharmacies across the nation, allowing every smoker who aspires to make a change in life — even those living in remote areas — to receive the assistance they need.”
Under the program, smokers have to pay only 20 percent of the original cost of cessation drugs, which is about NT$100 to NT$200, while the rest is covered by the National Health Insurance (NHI).
People from low-income households, Aborigines from the mountainous areas and residents of outlying islands are exempt from payment.
A 56-year-old woman from New Taipei City, surnamed Wu (吳), said she had smoked 20 to 30 cigarettes a day for 39 years and that she decided to quit smoking only last year, after her granddaughter was born.
“During the first few weeks after stopping smoking, I constantly felt sleepy and had to smoke a cigarette upon waking in the morning for a ‘pick-me-up,’” Wu said.
Wu said the “morning cigarette” was the hardest cigarette for her to give up, so she let herself cling to the unhealthy habit for nearly two months before turning to professional help.
“My doctor recommended that I use tea as an alternative to cigarettes. After some time, I found myself starting to be able to live without my morning cigarette,” Wu said.
“With support from my family and my religion, coupled with cessation drugs, I have successfully quit smoking, which allows me to not only regain the sense of taste, but also to save approximately NT$25,000 a year,” she said.
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