Table 7 Barriers associated with smoking cessation

• Unawareness about smoking harms & SmC strategies [31,32,33,34,35,36,37]

• Aberration of anti-smoking laws [29, 30, 36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44]

• Lack of resources for SmC [31, 34, 45, 46]

• Social engagement [31, 46, 47]

• Psychological factors [31, 34, 47,48,49,50]

• Loopholes in anti-smoking regulations [38]

• HCPs’ lack of interest in SmC initiatives [38, 51]

• Social acceptability [34, 45, 49]

• Nature of smoking [38, 47]

• Tactics by the tobacco industry [37, 52, 53]

• Role ambiguities [51]

• Smoking as an acquired behavior [31, 36, 38, 46, 47]

• Presence of smoking triggering factors [31, 34, 38, 47, 49, 54,55,56]

• Barriers to seeking support for SmC [31, 34, 45, 46, 50]