The anti-campaigner of smoking believes that ‘social networking sites’ could be an influential tool to make aware the public about the hazards of smoking.
The ill-effects of smoking in the pictorial form can be presented in Orkut by creating a small community to motivate people for quitting smoking as informed Dr Prakash C. Gupta, the director of Healis Sekhsaria Institute for Public Health who was delivering his speech before the novice group of doctors at Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies (AMCHSS), Thiruvananthapuram Kerala on Thursday.
"Asia has been in the forefront of issuing pictorial warnings and there has not been any public opposition so government of India need not be worry," said Dr Judith Mackay of World Lung Foundation while delivering his speech.
“The smoking rate among Indian especially in Youths are increasing at very high speed”, said Dr Douglas Bettcher, director, Tobacco Free Initiative, World Health Organisation. As per WHO statistics, five million people die each year from tobacco use. If current trends continue, this figure will reach 10 million per year by 2030, with 70 per cent of those deaths occurring in developing countries like India.”
Elaborating the uses of tobacco, Dr. Prakash Gupta told that ‘cigarette’ is not only the serious problem in India. About 40 per cent of overall tobacco has been used in smokeless tobacco products while another 40 per cent in ‘beedis’ and only about 20 per cent of tobacco has been consumed in cigarettes.
Warning to the youth, Dr. Mackay said, “India is losing 90,00,000 jobs in a year due to dying smokers. This is destructing not only the environment but also the economy of the nation."
Quoting the examples of Bollywood stars Saif Ali Khan and Shahrukh Khan for their promise to quit smoking, Dr. Srinath Reddy, President of Public Health Foundation of India said, “There is a salutary message in this. One hopes we do not have to hear similar news about Mr. Shah Rukh Khan. Tobacco strikes suddenly…. Smokers really need the will power to give up smoking."
"Doctors need to be more careful in dealing with smokers by way of counseling”, he added.
The Director of AMCHSS K. R. Thankappan said that low levels of smoking were less harmful to health, he informed the doctors that regular smoking can not only affect the heart or blood pressure but also affect the sexuality, reproductive health, looks and fast track aging of the addicts.
The next seminar on Tobacco or health to be scheduled in Mumbai in March 2009 with the name of ‘14th World Conference on Tobacco’ informed AMCHSS director.
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