Since majority of tobacco addiction takes root in young age, children and youth need to be informed of tobacco-related diseases, disabilities and deaths to make a wise choice and say NO to tobacco, said Professor (Dr) Rama Kant, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General's Awardee (2005), who was a keynote discussant at the Grow Without Tobacco theme discussion at Spring Dale College in B-Block Indira Nagar, Lucknow.Hundreds of students of Spring Dale College resolved not to use tobacco when their Principal Ms Rita Khanna appealed.
"It kills more than ten lakh people in India every year. Up to half of current users will eventually die of a tobacco-related disease. Tobacco users who die prematurely deprive their families of income, raise the cost of health care and hinder economic development" said Prof Rama Kant, who is currently officiating as the Executive Director of Piles To Smiles Clinic, C-block crossing, Indira Nagar and Professor-Director at SIPS Super-speciality Hospital, Chowk.
Speaking on oral health, Mumbai-based dental surgeon Dr Shivani Sharma said: "Tobacco is the major cause of oral cancer. Stopping all kind of tobacco consumption will certainly reduce the risk of cancer but reducing the consumption of tobacco does not reduce your risk of cancer. So stop using tobacco to prevent cancer."
"Those who have pre-cancerous lesions, should stop using tobacco and get checked by a dentist, to reduce the chance of getting oral cancer" said Dr Shivani Sharma.
Others present during the interaction included Rahul Kumar Dwivedi, Shobha Shukla, Ritesh Arya, Anand Pathak among others. It was jointly organized by Citizens for Healthy Lucknow (CHL) Campaign, Indian Society Against Smoking (ISAS), Abhinav Bharat Foundation (ABF), and Asha Parivar.
CNS
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States Times, Jammu & Kashmir
Elites TV News, USA
CNS Tobacco Control Initiative
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