Awareness Rally by KMC and DHO/DHFW to mark ‘World No Tobacco Day’
Mangaluru: ‘World No Tobacco Day’ is celebrated on May 31st every year to draw attention to the fact that five million dies from using tobacco each year, and if that’s not bad enough another 600,000 die from second-hand smoking. Tobacco smoking and consumption of smokeless or chewing tobacco affect the lives of billions of persons, posing an enormous public health challenge in its complexity, scale and impact, both at an individual and nation-wide level. Tobacco use and smoking in particular, causes many of the chronic and debilitating diseases that affect the population and stress the national healthcare system. Such diseases include heart disease, stroke, multiple cancers and respiratory diseases, as well as complications of pregnancy such as preterm delivery and low infant birth weight.
31st May is marked as World No Tobacco Day (WNTD), highlighting the health risks associated with tobacco use and advocating for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption. Tobacco causes significant changes in a person’s mouth and counseling is the first step on the road to quitting. So, Kasturba Medical College and Manipal College of Dental Sciences-Mangaluru in association with other organizations have joined in the fight against tobacco, as counseling reveals the deleterious effects of continued tobacco use. After an informed public that is knowledgeable about the risk factors for oral cancer, the dental community is the first line of defense in early detection of the disease. This was an opportunity for the dental students, along with other medical students/staff to get involved and give back to your community in hopes to raise oral cancer awareness and the need for early detection in order to save lives. Together, they all had an opportunity to make a difference in the world of oral cancers, and other tobacco related diseases.
In order to bring awareness about the ill-effects of smoking, District Tobacco Control Cell, District Health & Family Welfare (DHFW), Dakshina Kannada District, Mangaluru in association with Department of Public Health Dentistry, Kasturba Medical College-Mangaluru; Manipal College of Dental Sciences-Mangaluru and KMC Hospital jointly organized anti-tobacco rally to commemorate “World No Tobacco Day’- and the rally commenced from Dr Ambedkar Circle (Jyothi Circle) and culminated in front of the the DC office. ImpACT: IMPlementing Activities for Cessation of Tobacco, which is the tobacco cessation centre at the Department of Public Health Dentistry, Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Mangaluru also joined in the rally.
The anti-tobacco rally was flagged off by Mallana Gowda Patil, Senior Civil Judge, and Secretary, District Legal Cell Authority; Dr. Ramakrishna Rao, District Health and Family Welfare Officer (DHO), Dakshina Kannada, Mangaluru; Dr. Rajesh BV, District Surveillance Officer, Dakshina Kannada, Mangaluru; Ms. Jyoti, District Health Education Officer, Dakshina Kannada, Mangaluru; Dr. Preetha C. Shekar, District Consultant, District Tobacco Control Cell (DTCC), District Health & Family Welfare, Dakshina Kannada; along with Dr. Dilip G Naik, Dean, MCODS, Mangaluru; Dr. Ashitha Uppor, Associate Dean, MCODS, Mangaluru; Dr Prasanna Mithra P, Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, KMC, Mangaluru; Dr Vaman Kulkarni, Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, KMC, Mangaluru; Dr. Rajesh G, Professor & Head, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Mangaluru, and Dr. Mithun Pai, Associate Professor, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Mangaluru.
Hundreds of dental students, other medical students/staff, and officials of the Government agencies involved in this project joined in the rally to spread awareness on the consequences of smoking and the huge damage it inflicts on the health of people. The rallied on the streets demanding tobacco free society and a ban on sale of tobacco products around schools and institutions. The marchers held placards and banners to spread the awareness about smoking/tobacco. At the end of the rally which culminated in front of the DC office, everyone gathered together, raising a few anti-tobacco slogans, while Dr Dilip Nayak- Dean of MCoDS handed over a memorandum to Dr. Rajesh BV, District Surveillance Officer, Dakshina Kannada, Mangaluru
Speaking to Team Mangalorean, Dr Dilip Nayak said, “The ultimate goal of world No Tobacco-Day is to contribute to protecting present and future generations not only from the ill effects of tobacco but also from social, environmental and economic scourges of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke. It is our collective responsibility to fight against this menace of tobacco, and I urge everyone to play their role for making general masses aware about the hazards and ill effects of tobacco and its products. These days the youth are being the victims of smoking. As long as a kid is in the care of his parents, he is not vulnerable to bad habits like smoking. Once he reaches his adulthood, due to the influence of friends and peer group, he/she starts smoking and becomes a reason for the ill health of himself and his family. Parents need to keep an eye on their growing children, and spend some leisure time with them. Let’s all work together to make a difference in the community, and control the smoking habits among the masses”.
A few days prior to this Rally today, a screening program for tobacco use and precancerous and cancerous conditions in the mouth was organized at Infosys, Mangaluru on 29th May 2017. During this program, check-up was done for the employees of Infosys and a street play highlighting ill-effects of tobacco was performed. This led to an increase in the awareness of ill-effects of tobacco use among the employees. Intercollegiate competitions including poster, slogan writing, street play and quiz competitions were organized at Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Attavar campus, Mangaluru on 30th May 2017. On 31 May, the valedictory function was held. The participants of various medical and dental students from various institutions in and around Mangaluru took part. This program was aimed at enhancing the interest in anti-tobacco activities among students; and also to generate Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials that can be utilized for various anti-tobacco initiatives.
In conclusion, we need to stress the need to create more awareness to curb the menace of smoking. It is not enough that we organize programmes like this in the district level, rather we must create awareness in different panchayats/villages so that the awareness is spread at the rural level. We need to stop the usage of tobacco in the school premises and other public places so that its effect is reduced on the budding generation. Also that the smokers must not think about the law but about the public health when they are smoking in the public places. Not just because of smoking results in cancer, there are a few oft-ignored reasons why you should kick the “butt” immediately- Smoking affects your bone health; Smoking makes your blood more sticky; Forget dry eyes. Smoking can lead to cataract; Tobacco’s toxins can damage the genetic material in sperm cells; Smoking causes wrinkles, even change skin colour; Smoking leads to bad breath, dis-coloured teeth, build plaque and tartar..; Smoking makes your body more toxic; Smoking adversely affects wound healing-So STOP SMOKING! Period.
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Kick That Butt! KMC and DHO/DHFW Observe ‘World No Tobacco Day’