Nicotinell, the world’s leading nicotine replacement therapy product, is launching an ‘Extreme Quit 12 Week Challenge’ in UAE in solidarity with ‘World No Tobacco Day’, which will give smokers desperate to quit but so far unsuccessful a chance to win entrance into an intensive smoking cessation program.
Smokers willing to be considered for the ‘Nicotinell Extreme Quit 12 Week Challenge’ will be asked to call in to 104.8 Channel 4 FM (English), 107.8 Al Rabia FM (Arabic) or 89.1 Radio 4FM (Hindi) to explain - live on air - their reasons for wanting to quit (1 call per program, others may send their entries via e-mail or fax). The most amusing or emotionally moving entries will be selected by Nicotinell and will be announced on the June 2nd evening show. At that stage, the DJ will call each challenge participant and speak to them – live on air for their comments.
Winners will receive the following quit package: a 3 month Nicotinell therapy with doctor’s follow-up, a nutritional plan from a professional nutritionist and a 3-month fitness program from the Nautilus Academy.
The ‘Nicotinell Extreme Quit 12 Week Challenge’ broadcasts will be twice a day – in the morning and evening drive time - from May 30th to June 2nd. Winners – one male and one female from each radio channel - will be announced on air on June 2nd when the announcer will call each Challenge winner and get their comments live on air.
‘For many smokers around the world, the prospect of quitting is overwhelming,’ said Lalaine Chu-Benitez, Nicotinell Senior Brand Manager. ‘Many smokers simply don’t know how to go about the process of stopping. Moreover, smoking is now universally recognized as an addiction requiring expert supervision. We wanted to show smokers across the UAE a process that is practical, healthy and relatively easy and we wanted to do this in solidarity with World No Tobacco Day. To this end we have partnered with the Nautilus Academy, leading nutritionists and physicians in hopes that this will offer smokers a light at the end of the tunnel.’
About Nicotinell: Nicotinell patches prevent smokers from experiencing the withdrawal symptoms, which can interfere with giving up smoking. The Nicotinell patches break the cycle of nicotine addiction, by delivering a steady low dose of nicotine to the system. This maintains relatively constant blood levels above the craving threshold, so that that smoker has less likelihood of experiencing withdrawal symptoms.Nicotinell helps to overcome the physiological dependence upon nicotine and allows the smoker to deal with the smoking habit – i.e. to break physiological dependence. By weaning from a higher dosage to a lower dosage patch over a course of 12 weeks, the physiological dependence on nicotine is diminished gradually, and the smoker will be freed from further craving for nicotine. Addiction to smoking can be reduced in the same way that it started – gradually.
About Novartis: Novartis is a global leader in life sciences focusing on agribusiness and healthcare and is driven by a high performance workforce of 82,000 people operating in more than 140 countries worldwide. The company was created as a result of a merger by Ciba Geigy and Sandoz in 1996. Novartis Consumer Health (NCH) is a division of Novartis and a global leader in its own right in the fields of nutritional and self-medication healthcare. The Dubai office of NCH covers the Arabian Gulf Markets of Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman, as well as Yemen.
