Introduction:
Tobacco Cessation is one of the least attended components of Tobacco Control strategies worldwide. Although there is a felt need by tobacco users to quit the use and Tobacco Cessation Services can be provided in low-resource healthcare settings, lack of adequate training in tobacco cessation among health care physicians acts as a major deterrent to provide the services.

Objective:
To determine the effectiveness of training medical officers in providing tobacco cessation services.

Methods:
Study design: Cross Sectional Study. Study method: Self-scored questionnaire, self-administered pre and post one-day training on tobacco cessation. Study area: Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka, India. Sample size: Universal sample of 55 Medical Officers. Study period: 1 month.

Results:
None of the Medical Officers were earlier trained in tobacco cessation services. Among the 55 medical officers, 23 were females. Mean number of years of experience of respondents was 8.2±6.99 years. Mean pre-test score for overall ability to provide tobacco cessation services was 46.31±9.41 and post-test score was 54.40±8.67 which showed a statistically significant difference (t= -7.58; p<0.05). The overall mean of pre and post test scores for ability to counsel the respondents using 5A's were 19.73±3.47 and 21.87±3.37 respectively which showed a statistically significant difference (t= -5.29; p<0.0005). A moderate positive correlation was observed between the overall pre and post test scores (r=0.62; p<0.01).

Conclusions:
The study revealed that there was a significant improvement in the perceived ability to provide tobacco cessation services after the conduct of the Workshop.

Funding:
District Tobacco Control Cell, Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka, India.