Dr. Raj Kumar currently Director of Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute and the Head, Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Head-National Centre of Respiratory Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, Coordinator of National Tobacco Quitline Services. He is working in this Institute since 1992. Under his Leadership an MOU was signed between Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute (VPCI), University of Delhi and Department of Allergology, University Hospital, Munster, Germany (UKM) for Teaching and Training.
He is one of the pioneers to start India’s first Tobacco Cessation Centre (TCC) in a chest hospital on November 21, 2001 at the Institute. The TCC become one of 18 centers for providing cessation services of World Health Organization (WHO) and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India. The Quit rates in behavioral and pharmacotherapy group at 12 months were 22.4% and 40.3% respectively.
Prof. Kumar also played instrumental role in setting up Tobacco Cessation Centers at State/District level under National Tobacco Control Program (N.T.C.P). He reached to more than 30000 people by organizing more than 70 camps, public awareness programs and trained 1100+ physicians, medical and para-medical professionals in Tobacco Cessation. Prof. Kumar has been credited with the establishment of India’s First National Tobacco Quitline Services (NTQLS) at VPCI, a pioneering service aimed to control and stop tobacco menace in the society, under Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India to provide Tobacco Cessation Counselling through a toll-free number 1800-11-2356 free of cost across the country. The NTQLS was launched on 30th May 2016, on World No tobacco Day by the then Honorable Minister of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India Shri JP Nadda. Now 3 more Centres have been established at Guwahati, Bangalore and Mumbai for giving counselling in other 15 different languages. For his work on smoking cessation World Health Organization (WHO) awarded Dr.Kumar in 2019 on World No Tobacco Day.
Dr.Kumar established the society for tobacco Control (STC) in the year 2010, under the society act XXI of 1860 with the aim of helping people to quit smoking and protecting non-smokers from the exposure to tobacco smoke. The society is running a 3 months Certificate Program in Tobacco Cessation and publishing a Quarterly Tobacco Bulletin.
The Government has established a National level tobacco cessation Quitline in Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute (VPCI), New Delhi with a toll free number (1800-11-2356) and the services have been expanded to regional satellite centres since 2018.