How does one quit? What compels a smoker to take that tough decision? Quitting smoking is not as easy as it may look to a non-smoker, say most of the smokers. But they agree that it is an abrupt act in most cases; that is, you decide one odd moment that you’re not going to smoke any more.

The transformation from a smoker to a non-smoker is caused by factors, such as health risks and peer pressure. A smoker turns to counselling usually when he is finding it difficult to take the decision.

"Counselling is not readily available to a smoker in our part of the world," says Javed Ahmed, a businessman in his late fifties, who quit smoking due to health reasons. His doctors had advised him to quit or double the risk of a heart attack. "It was both; the doctors’ advice and the pressure from the family that worked eventually," he says. "One day I was able to convince myself that I had to quit smoking. So I just threw away the pack of cigarettes that I was carrying."

Nabeel Mushtaq, a government official, agrees with Ahmed, "Doctors’ advice has its importance but the decision to quit smoking has to come from within. I was also advised by the doctor to quit smoking as my ECG results were not satisfactory."

Mushtaq believes there are people who do not take doctor’s advice seriously, "I took doctor’s advice seriously. Many people don’t. I have seen my friends not heeding to the advice and then eventually paying the price for it."

In some cases though, saying no to smoking can be as "simple as your little daughter telling you to stop it," says Tahir Ali, an IT professional. "One day my five year old daughter took out the cigarette from my mouth as I was about to light it, saying, ‘Baba you’re not going to smoke anymore. It’s very bad for health. Our teacher told us so.’ She was so firm in her decision and so angry at me. From that moment on, I never smoked again," Ali adds.

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Some people do it as the last option. "I had tried quit smoking a couple of times because I knew it was no good. But I would start again after a gap of a few months or a year," says Hameed Qureshi, a retired teacher. "Then one day I felt intense pain in my chest. I was taken to an emergency. It was a heart attack. I was lucky to survive that but the doctors warned me to leave smoking or risk my life. I never smoked after that. It was about seven years ago."

But there are others who are obedient quitters. "Ever since I was diagnosed with a heart problem in June 2010, I quit smoking," says Mobin Bhatti, in his fifties. He admits though that, "it was only after I smoked the remaining cigarettes in the packet."

Doctors lament that smokers are either not aware of the damage smoking can do to them, or even if they are told they tend to ignore a health warning by a doctor. "Smokers mostly do not heed to a doctor’s advice but only after they get a warning in the shape of a heart problem or any other medical condition caused by smoking," says Dr Amjad Mahmood, a senior doctor at Jinnah Hospital Lahore.

"There is no separate department in a hospital for counselling to smokers," he informs. "Smokers usually consult their family doctors individually. Or in severe cases, they may go to a psychiatrist. For smokers who want to quit smoking, there should be a proper mechanism to help them."