New Delhi, May 7 -- Leading public health experts commended the Government of India's ongoing efforts in tobacco control and urged the Drug Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) for strengthening cessation pathways by ensuring 2 mg and 4 mg nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs) remain easily accessible as over-the-counter (OTC) products.

Speaking at Respire-2026, an event organized by Asian Coalition for Health Empowerment (ACHE); experts emphasised that improving access to evidence-based cessation tools is critical to addressing India's persistent challenge of low quit success rates, currently below 5%.

The discussion comes at a time when recent policy discourse has been informed by insights from a report by the Economic Advisory Council to ...