Vaping Prevention Curriculum in India

Vaibhav SahniAbhishek Shankar^*

• All India Institute of Medical Sciences New Delhi, New Delhi, India

This intervention was innovative in terms of being peer-to-peer and online while also providing guidance on ways to quit vaping. 9 The CATCH My Breath (CMB) program was found to be effective, feasible and well-received when administered to 6217 pupils over twenty-five high-and middle-schools across a fouryear time period in eight counties in the Appalachian region of the United States. 10 The OurFutures Vaping Program based out of Australia is another prevention-based initiative targeted towards adolescents. 11 The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) also offers a curriculum aimed towards youth vaping and e-cigarette cessation and prevention. 12 There is however, a lack of such programs reported from the Southeast Asia region. Ideally, the strategy should be region-specific, however, existing programs from other parts of the world can be adapted in part or as a whole to evaluate their effectiveness, as a starting point. A survey of medical students from Scotland (n=606 comprising about 12% of all Scottish medical students) found that a vast majority (95%) reported e-cigarettes to not being covered sufficiently in their curriculum while 61% admitted that there was no mention of ecigarettes in their coursework. 13 Most respondents (98%) were not aware of the availability of any cessation services. 13 Previous work has highlighted shortcomings in the knowledge of dental students in the US and Spain to deal with a rise in e-cigarette usage and imparting relevant information to patients in this regard. 14 This study recommended educational programs and incorporation of information on the hazards of e-cigarette usage in dental curricula. 14 The ill-effects of tobacco usage are taught in medical and dental schools in India, however, previous research has highlighted the largely didactic nature of instruction and a need to integrate tobacco counselling training not just in India but across curricula the world over. 15 There is room in Indian academic curricula to add information on ENDS in the MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery), BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery), B.Sc. Nursing and B.Pharm courses. 16,17,18,19 Healthcare professionals will probably be the first contacts of many ENDS-using individuals reporting to clinics and should be trained in identifying such individuals and counselling them appropriately. Not only this, healthcare professionals may largely be perceived as reliable sources of information and it is only when these individuals themselves have appropriate information on ENDS can they provide accurate information further. The vaping prevention curricula at the school-level can be focussed on equipping students with knowledge regarding the harmful effects of using these devices and help device refusal strategies. At the university-level, ENDS education can delve into greater scientific detail regarding the risk profile of vaping along with integrating cessation counselling skills. The delivery methods for a vaping prevention curriculum can be both online and in-person, with ENDS education at the university-level including a practical component to integrate cessation counselling skills.