The government organized various awareness programs to protect the younger generation from tobacco consumption and to create awareness among people about the harms caused by tobacco products.
An anti-tobacco awareness meeting was held at Vidyaniketan High School in the Pandu area of Guwahati on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day on Friday. The event was jointly organized by the Director of Health Services Tobacco Control Cell (Kamrup Metro) and Vidyaniketan High School.
Distinguished guests were felicitated at the meeting, which began with a song. Dr. Mridul Bharti Nath, Nodal Officer of the Director Health Service Tobacco Control Cell, highlighted the negative aspects of tobacco consumption among students using photographs.
He explained that tobacco can be consumed in two ways: through smoking products like cigarettes and bidis, and oral products like jorda, sada, and gutka. Both forms of tobacco are harmful to health. He cited a survey from 2016-17, which showed that about 48.2% of tobacco users in Assam were men (62.5%) and women (32.5%).
Dr. Nath emphasized the importance of increasing awareness about the dangers of tobacco from a young age. He urged the hundreds of students present to pledge to oppose tobacco consumption and advised them to avoid those who use tobacco. He noted that being around tobacco users is also harmful.
Other distinguished speakers at the meeting discussed various diseases caused by tobacco consumption and the government’s legal measures to control it. Students highlighted the negative aspects of tobacco consumption through playing cards. All the teachers of the school were present at the meeting.
