Bihar Govt.Ban Tobacco-welcomed by Doctors and social activists

 



 

PATNA: Doctors and social activists on Thursday welcomed the state government's decision to ban tobacco products in Bihar on the eve of World No Tobacco Day.
The department of radiotherapy of Patna Medical College organized a seminar on Thursday, on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day. Doctors advised common people to quit smoking and lead a natural life.
Organizing secretary and associate professor, Dr P N Pandit, said the habitual tobacco consumers develop molecular changes at genetic level by mutation in gene which causes cancer. He said tobacco replacement therapy will help recuperate such persons.
Citing a report of the Indian Association for Cancer Research (IACR), Dr Pandit said tobacco causes 19 different types of cancer, including oral and lung cancer, and added discontinuation of tobacco consumption can reduce one third volume of all cancers in the country. He urged people, social workers and media to work together with the government in eradication of tobacco related cancers.
Dr Sangita Narain, assistant professor at PMCH, spoke about tobacco hazards in gynaecological tumours like cervix while Dr Ravi Byahut talked about oral cancer. Dr Mithilesh Kumar chaired the scientific session of the seminar.
In another programme, NGO Sukh Sansar organized an awareness camp on the theme, 'Tobacco industry interference' in which stress was laid on the need to expose and counter the tobacco industry's brazen and increasingly aggressive attempts to undermine the WHO framework convention on tobacco control as it poses serious danger to the public health.
The participants said raising tax on tobacco products, smoke-free environment, pictorial display of health warning and ban on tobacco advertisement would be the four most effective steps to help curb tobacco consumption.
Organisation secretary Dr Sanjay Kumar Sinha said tobacco is one of the leading preventable causes of death worldwide with nearly six million people dying every year due to tobacco use. About 600,000 people die after getting exposed to second-hand smoke. According to an estimate, by 2030, tobacco consumption will kill 8 million people worldwide every year. More than 80% of those people belong to low and middle income groups. There are around 275 million tobacco users in India with 1 million people dying every year due to it.
Bihar Table Tennis Association (BTTA) also celebrated the World No Tobacco Day and asked people to treat every day as no tobacco day. A copy of Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003, was also handed over to the players with an aim to spread message among them about the ill-effects of tobacco consumption. The players also took pledge not to use tobacco in any form.
School of preventive oncology, too, celebrated the day with 'Prabhat Pheri' attended by children and youngster from slum areas. Dr Gupetshwar Pandey, research coordinator of the Institute, said India was the 8th country to ratify the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), adding that with more and more countries joining it, the tobacco industry's efforts to undermine it will dissipate.