Mangaluru, Jan 21: With people still considering smoking as a fundamental right, a total ban cannot be applied to it. Hence, more information on use of tobacco and gutka and their effects should be given to people, said Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner A B Ibrahim.
Speaking after inaugurating a workshop on ‘Effective Implementation of Tobacco Control Laws in Karnataka by capacity building and monitoring’ organised by the Dakshina Kannada district police department in Mangaluru on Wednesday, he said that while there were lot of fundamental issues faced by enforcers with regard to Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), the process of creating awareness about the harmful effects of tobacco and related products should involve all governmental bodies and other organisations in order to reach out to more number of people including youth and college students.
Senior technical advisor (Tobacco Control) at South-East Asian office of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) Dr Rana J Singh said that tobacco usage was already prevalent and wide-spread in Karnataka, with nearly 28 percent of the people in the state are using tobacco products. According to statistics, the state has approximately 1 crore people tobacco users and it is a very huge challenge to cure all the users of their relevant diseases, he said.
He said that the tobacco control laws become effective only when they are self-enforced and self-regulated. Ban on smoking should not be enforced on others, but mutual co-operation is necessary to check their usage of tobacco products in the state. Ban of advertisements and hoardings of tobacco products, involvement of school children in creating awareness among tobacco users and spreading awareness through the civil society and NGOs is essential to reduce the number of tobacco users, he stressed.
District Health and Family Welfare Officer Dr Ramakrishna Rao said that with 30,000 new cases of cancer every year, nearly 3 lakh people in Karnataka were suffering from cancer and tobacco-related diseases. The main intention of the workshop is to help create public awareness on the harmful effects of tobacco and other products, he said.
Following the inaugural programme, Dr Ramakrishna Rao and Dr Rana J Singh conducted sessions on the disadvantages and harmful effects of tobacco, as part of the workshop.
District nodal officer and several health officers were present on the occasion.
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