Kerala capital to become model COTPA compliant: City police gears up

The Thiruvananthapuram City Police  are fully geared up for time-bound action to make the capital a tobacco free district that fulfils the provisions of the Indian tobacco control law COTPA, 2003. This follows a multi-stakeholder meeting chaired by the District Collector that decided to make Thiruvananthapuram a model COTPA compliant district.

As part of this, Circle Inspectors and Sub Inspectors attended a half-day workshop in which they were explained the various sections of COTPA and the steps for achieving model compliance status.

Deputy Commissioner Smt S Ajeetha Begum talked about the purpose of the training programme and asked all officers to take strict action against COTPA violations. “We are embarking on a prestigious project that will have positive implications on the health and well-being of our people,” she said, even while calling for strengthening reporting of COTPA violations.

Faculty member Retd.DySP Adv K Mohana Kumar made an audio-visual presentation and explained the various sections of COTPA and the punitive measures prescribed for violation of each. Section 4 of COTPA prohibits smoking in all public places; acts of violation will invite a fine up to Rs 200. Public places have also to put up mandatory no smoking signages in the prescribed size and format at the entrance and conspicuous places inside. Educational institutions, hospitals, restaurants, cinema halls and the like are included in the list of public places, he told.

Section 5 prohibits all forms of tobacco advertisements; Section 6 prohibits sale of tobacco products to and by minors – sale of tobacco products around 100 yards (91.4 metres) radially of an educational institution is banned. Section 7 requires statutory health warnings in all tobacco products’ packages.

Joint Commissioner, Food Safety Shri K Anil Kumar explained that products such as gutkha and pan masala containing tobacco or nicotine have been banned in Kerala as per the 2011 regulation of the Food Safety and Standards Act of India, 2006. As per this, tobacco and nicotine shall not be used as an ingredient in any food product and that the product should not contain any substance that is injurious health.  He also sought stronger coordination between Food Safety and other implementing departments such as Police and Health for effective enforcement of the ban in Kerala.

District Health Officer (Rural) Shri PK Raju presented field-level experiences on implementing COTPA. Highlighting a circular issued by the local self government department in 2011, he pointed out that setting up of ‘no smoking’ boards are a precondition for issue of Factory Licences and Dangerous & Offensive Trade Licences under the Kerala Panchayat/Municipality Acts. Secretaries of Local Government Institutions have been directed to display boards prohibiting smoking at public places and premises of offices under their control, Shri Raju added.

In his opening remarks, Shri S Jayaraj, State Coordinator, Tobacco Free Kerala spoke about smoking in public places which violates Articles 21 and 47 of the Indian Constitution. Article 21 is about protection of life and personal liberty and Article 47 calls upon the State to improve public health.

Tobacco use victim Shri Sukumaran narrated the physical and financial hardships he had to face following tobacco induced oral cancer. The workshop was organised by Trivandrum City Police together with Tobacco Free Kerala – a coalition of like-minded organisations formed for tobacco control in Kerala. More than 30 officers participated in the programme. 

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National Short Film Contest on Tobacco Control: Entries invited

To heighten awareness about the potent dangers of tobacco among the youth and to enhance their involvement in control efforts, a national short film contest is being organised ahead of World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) that falls on May 31.

Entries are invited from youth between the ages of 18 and 25 for this contest being conducted by WNTD Kerala State Organising Committee formed under the leadership of the Department of Health, GoK, Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies of Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology and Regional Cancer Centre.

The entered short films should be in English or Malayalam and may be made in digital camera, camcorder, handycam or mobile camera. The films should have a minimum duration of 30 seconds and should not exceed one minute. Both individuals and groups can participate.

The short films may be made in one of the themes including ‘raise tobacco taxes’; ‘enforce tobacco control laws’; ‘tobacco and health’ and ‘tobacco and youth’.

The last date for submitting entries is May 19; only the first 100 entries received before the deadline will be considered for evaluation. A jury panel of noted filmmakers and medical experts of repute will evaluate the films. The first three winning entries will get a cash prize of Rs. 10,000, Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 3,000 respectively; there are also two consolation prizes of Rs 1,000 each. All winners will get a certificate and memento.

Submissions of not more than 25 MB in ‘.mov’ or ‘mpeg’ formats are to be sent via email to wntdkerala@gmail.com. More details about the contest, its rules and regulations are available here. For further details, contact 0471 – 2524247.

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Tobacco causes 40 per cent of cancers in India

Around two fifths (40 per cent) of all cancers in India are attributable to tobacco use, and the economic costs of illness and premature death due to tobacco consumption exceed combined government and state expenditure on medical and public health, water supply, and sanitation, a new report on cancer care in India published in The Lancet Oncology revealed.

The report points out that India is facing a cancer crisis, with smoking, belated diagnosis and unequal access to treatment causing large-scale problems. Every year in India,around one million new cancer cases are diagnosed and around 600,000 to 700,000 people die from cancer in India, with this death toll projected to rise to around 1.2 million deaths per year by 2035.

The report compiled by Professor Richard Sullivan and Professor Arnie Purushotham from King's Health Partners Cancer Centre at King's College London with the help of senior Indian colleagues including Professor CS Pramesh and Professor Rajan Badwe at the Tata Memorial Cancer Centre, Mumbai.

Although India has a relatively lower incidence of cancer (around a quarter of that in the USA or Western Europe), the rate of deaths from cancer, adjusted for age, is similar to that seen in high-income countries, the report said.

 

Less than a third of patients with cancer in India currently survive for more than five years after diagnosis.

 

Around 95 per cent of the medical colleges in India do not have comprehensive cancer care services, comprising Surgical, Medical and Radiation Oncology departments, in the same campus.

 

Currently there are around 2,000 medical and radiation oncologists in India one per 5000 newly diagnosed cancer patients and in almost all remote or rural areas even the most basic cancer treatment facilities are non-existent, it said.

 

As a result, urban cancer centres are overcrowded and under-resourced, leading to long waiting times, delayed diagnoses, and treatment that comes too late for many patients.

"Cancer research needs to be central to plans for national cancer control, and cancer needs to be one of the focuses of national research agendas and priorities," said Professor Richard Sullivan, King's College London, series coordinator and lead author of the series paper on cancer research in India.

 

Abstracted from Manoramaonline

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