Background: The prevalence of tobacco use is high in India, with nearly half of males and one-fifth of females using tobacco in some form. An effort has been made to offer help to quit tobacco use among patients by initiating tobacco cessation counseling (TCC) services in our Institution. The aim was to assess the effectiveness of TCC program among tobacco users. Methods: The evaluation of the TCC program was carried out by reviewing of records enrolled from January 2014 to March 2016. The baseline information of the enrolled subjects was assessed for tobacco use status. The post-intervention follow-up details of the current tobacco users were analyzed for quit status, and the tobacco quit rate was determined. Chi-square test was applied for statistical analysis. Results: Of the 1472 current tobacco users, 95.9% were males and 4.1% were females. An overall quit rate of 5.2% was recorded with women having 2.73 times higher quit rate than men (P = 0.004). Losses to follow-up were very high. Conclusion: A lower tobacco quit rate was recorded due to high losses to follow-up. Integration of proactive follow-up measures while designing the public health program is required, to overcome the challenge “high losses to follow-up” and to achieve a better response and outcome.

Background: During the early days of March, the surge of COVID-19 patients was evident in India. Effective control measures were adopted timely to overcome this deadly pandemic, but the limited knowledge among the researchers as well as the healthcare professionals caused it to be a worldwide pandemic and created a scare throughout the world. Aim: In this survey, we aim to study the knowledge and anxiety among dentists in the state of Himachal Pradesh toward the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: An online survey was conducted among general dentists studying or practicing in the state of Himachal Pradesh, with a sample size of 670 dentists based on convenience sampling. A self-developed online questionnaire was formulated comprising 24 questions. It was divided into demography, knowledge, and anxiety, with each having 4, 11, and 9 questions, respectively. Results: The survey revealed that the responders had adequate knowledge regarding COVID-19 as well as effective preventive measures to protect themselves as well as their families. Around 70% of people were well aware of the clinical manifestations of the virus. Anxiety was observed among dentists due to the rapidly progressing nature of this virus throughout the world. Around 50% of the people were anxious about facing any health-related issues due to corona infection. Conclusion: Thus, we feel there is a need for better sources of knowledge regarding this pandemic and methods to protect oneself, as well as care for the good mental health of the dentists.