UCT pulmonologist Dr Richard van Zyl-Smit is developing a web-based computer app for clinicians, providing standardised assessments of patients who want to stop smoking.

The app is linked to a questionnaire that gathers a range of patient information, such as addiction level, withdrawal, and allied conditions like depression, to help doctors track interventions and assess their patients in real time. “You log on, enter a patient's details, and it will guide you through the assessment,” says VanZyl-Smit.

He hopes to make the app available to clinics, as well as to companies with large workforces who may be running their own wellness programmes.

“This allows organisations a degree of uniformity in the approach to the individual patient, ensuring that the correct medical history is taken before potentially dangerous drugs are described, and providse a database to evaluate treatment success – and possibly, future research,” he says. “It's also fun for patients to be able to track their progress.”