World No Tobacco Day

Tobacco Kills - an initiative to eradicate the illicit trade of tobacco and address the effects of second hand smoking.

Jeremy London, an American actor once said, “A lot of people in my life are getting sick or potentially going to get sick from tobacco.”

The tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced, killing nearly six million people a year. More than five million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use, while more than six hundred thousand are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second hand smoke. Approximately one person dies every six seconds due to tobacco, accounting for one in 10 adult deaths. Up to half of its current users will eventually die of a tobacco-related disease.

To mark ‘World No Tobacco Day’, top doctors from the city and cancer survivors joined hands to campaign against the illicit sale of tobacco products. World Health Organisation (WHO) has marked May 31st as ‘World No Tobacco Day’ to highlight the illicit trade of tobacco products as it is a major global concern, which includes health, legal, economic, governance and corruption as well.

As a prelude to ‘World No Tobacco Day’ on May 31st 2015, HCG, Bangalore organised a silent protest in front of key cigarette shops which were violating the rule of selling tobacco products within hundred yards of educational institutions according to the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act 2003 (COPTA). The protest took place in the following locations

• SSB International School - Indiranagar
• The Frank Anthony Public School - Cambridge Road
• St. Joseph’s Commerce College - Brigade Road
• St. Joseph’s College - Richmond Road
• Mithralaya School 1 - Mission Road (near the signal)
• Mithralaya School 2 - Mission Road (near HCG Hospital)
• United Mission Educational Institution - P Kalinga Rao Road
• Jyoti Niwas College – Koramangala
• Mathikere- MSR Nagar

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the India and has more than sixteen million Indians suffering from a disease caused by tobacco usage. Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 20% of the deaths per year in the country. Children account for more than 25% of these deaths, including an estimated fifty thousand deaths resulting from second hand smoke exposure. In Karnataka, smoking alone kills many annually and leaves thousands suffering with chronic diseases.

Tobacco is a great burden to the society and it’s time we all join hands to address it the best way we can.