Tobacco Free Kerala, a coalition of like-minded organisations for tobacco control, welcomes the Kerala Chief Minister’s intervention of writing to the Prime Minister for a country-wide gutkha ban.Shri Oommen Chandy has requested the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh “ban gutkha products containing tobacco and nicotine in all states of the country. By doing so, India will not only be able to save millions of children and youth - our productive resources of the future - but also send a clear signal of our commitment to public health.”
This move is especially commendable for Kerala, which in spite of a total ban, has had to confront problems of smuggled-in tobacco products from neighbouring states that have not banned these products.
Dr Paul Sebastian, Vice Chairman, Tobacco Free Kerala, welcoming the Kerala Chief Minister’s whole-hearted efforts for tobacco control in the state said, “Kerala is really fortunate to have a leader like Shri Oommen Chandy who is fully awake to the issues confronting the health of our people, especially the menace caused by tobacco use.”
“Every day I come across scores of patients who are afflicted with various types of cancers due to tobacco use. It pains me much to see young people suffer so. The silver lining for us is the high level of consciousness of our Chief Minister and Health Minister Shri V S Sivakumar; with their support we are sure of bringing about a positive change in tobacco-induced morbidity and mortality,” Dr Sebastian, who is also the Director of Regional Cancer Centre here, added.
Image courtesy: Newsreporter
No comments:
Post a Comment