Kick That Butt! KMC and DHO/DHFW Observe ‘World No Tobacco Day’
Kick That Butt! 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 observe “World No Tobacco Day 2017”.
Mangaluru: Kick that butt! -that’s right. Here are a few things you should know about smoking. When someone talks about smoking, the only fear that comes to mind is of lung cancer, bronchitis or emphysema. But did you know that smoking is powerful enough to affect almost every part of the body? What if we told you that your addiction to the nicotine stick has far bigger, even more dangerous, effects on your body? Here 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
Lung cancer? Think bladder, breast, pancreas, stomach… cancers too Lung cancer is not only cancer caused by smoking. Almost every part of the body can be affected. Your bladder, breast, stomach, pancreas, ovary, can get affected too. Smoking tobacco damages nearly every organ in the human body & it is one of the strongest cancer-causing agents. Cigarette smoking accounts for at least 30% of all cancer deaths. Tobacco use is associated with at least 15 different types of cancers; including cancers of the throat, mouth, lungs pancreas, kidney, bladder, and cervix. People who smoke are up to six times more likely to suffer a heart attack than nonsmokers, and the risk increases with the number of cigarettes smoked. Smoking also causes most cases of chronic obstructive lung disease, Strokes and also ulcers in stomach.
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 a valedictory function of “World No Tobacco Day 2017”, on the conclusion of various competitions held to commemorate this Day. 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 actively involved in these activities.
A few days prior to this valedictory function, 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. 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.
The valedictory event was graced by Mallana Gowda Patil, Senior Civil Judge, and Secretary, District Legal Cell Authority; Dr. M R Ravi, Chief Executive Officer, Zilla Panchayat, Mangaluru; Dr. Rajesh BV, District Surveillance Officer, Mangaluru; Dr. V Surendra Shetty, Pro Vice Chancellor, Manipal University, Mangalore Campus; Dr. Anand Venugopal, Medical Superintendent, KMC Hospitals, Mangaluru; Dr. M. Venkatraya Prabhu, Dean, KMC, Mangaluru; Dr. Dilip G Nayak, Dean, MCODS, Mangaluru . and Dr G Rajesh- Professor & HOD Public Health Dentistry, MCODS,Mangaluru.
The programme began with invoking God’s blessings through a prayer song rendered by three students of IIIrd year BDS of Manipal College of Dental Science (MCoDS) ,Mangaluru followed by welcome address by Dr Dilip Nayak, Dean of MCoDS. The programme was inaugurated by lighting of the lamp by all the dignitaries present on the dais for the occasion. Addressing the audience, Senior Judge Mallana Gowda Patil said, “Various diseases and disabilities that result from tobacco use have emerged as one of the crucial public health issues in the world. Global Adult Tobacco Survey conducted by the World Health Organization and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India indicates that more than one third (35%) of adults in India use one or the other form of tobacco. A report on the economic burden of tobacco use in India by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India indicates that total costs attributable to tobacco use in India in 2011 was Rs. 1,04,500 crores. This indicates that the challenges posed by tobacco use in India have to be given very high priority and addressed immediately.”.
Dr. M R Ravi, Chief Executive Officer, Zilla Panchayat in his elaborate speech said, ” I feel proud to be a teetotaller and a non-smoker, and many people are very much surprised and some won’t even believe me. These days its sad to note that youngsters, boys and girls, are addicted to smoking. Even in spite of strict laws regarding the legal age for smoking, many under age smoke, and they are not scared of any law. We also need to blame the parents for not keeping their children under control when they were growing up to be teens. Parents were busy with their own work or activities, while their children got neglected, and led into all bad habits, including smoking. Yes there are laws which could be explained to people- but it’s easy to deal with uneducated people who would listen and follow the laws-but its always the rich and educated that abuse these laws, and don’t care to listen when explaining to them”.
“About 70% of smokers say they want to quit and about 40% try to quit each year, but only 4% to 7% succeed without help. This is because smokers not only become physically addicted to nicotine; there is a strong emotional/psychological aspect and they often link smoking with many social activities. All of these factors make smoking a hard habit to break. There are medicines which help a smoker to quit, which has to be taken under supervision. Stress coping skills are taught to these individuals who can give up smoking effectively. Awareness projects like this one would surely bring a change in the habits of the smokers, and could make a big difference in their lives” added Dr Ravi.
Dr. V Surendra Shetty, Pro Vice Chancellor, Manipal University also speaking said “Cigarette smoke contains many chemicals that interfere with the body’s method of filtering air and cleaning out the lungs. The smoke irritates the lungs and leads to overproduction of mucus. It also paralyses the cilia – tiny hair-like structures that line the airways and clean out dust and dirt. Paralysis of the cilia means mucus and toxic substances accumulate, resulting in congestion of the lungs. Cigarette smoke is also one of the best known triggers of asthma. When people suffer from asthma their inflamed air passages, which are very sensitive, narrow when exposed to cigarette smoke. This causes an asthma attack. Long term exposure of the lungs to the irritants in tobacco smoke destroys the normal lung structure. Damage to the lung tissue is irreversible. We can almost always find some visible abnormality in patients that smoke and often in those exposed to second hand smoke. Children have increased risk of ear disease and airway troubles when their parents smoke. The major risk factor for the majority of head and neck cancers is clearly due to smoking or oral tobacco use.”
Dr. Rajesh BV, District Surveillance Officer, Mangaluru speaking said, “The theme for World No Tobacco Day 2017, is “Tobacco – a threat to development.” It will propose measures that governments and the public should take to promote health and development by confronting the global tobacco crisis. Commemorating World No Tobacco Day is of special relevance to countries like India. Such activities will increase the awareness about the ill-effects of tobacco in the community. It might strengthen the capabilities of collectively fighting the global tobacco menace. The campaign will demonstrate the threats that the tobacco industry poses to the sustainable development of all countries, including the health and economic well-being of their citizens; and It will propose measures that governments and the public should take to promote health and development by confronting the global tobacco crisis. We are glad to be associated with KMC and MCoDS in this campaign to bring awareness on the ill effects of tobacco/smoking”.
Winners in various competitions held to mark ‘World No Tobacco day” were presented with prizes during the occasion. The vote of thanks was proposed by Dr G Rajesh- Professor & HOD Public Health Dentistry, MCODS, Mangaluru, and the programme was compered by Dr Mranali Shetty of MCoDS. Cipla Health Ltd, the makers of “Nicotex” were one among the many sponsors of the project.
An anti-tobacco rally is organized on 31st May 2017 from KMC Hospitals, Ambedkar Circle to Deputy Commissioner’s (DC) office, Mangaluru. A total of 200 medical and dental students will participate in this rally which is aimed at increasing the awareness of the harmful effects of tobacco use among the population. At the end of this rally, representatives from Kasturba Medical College, Mangaluru; Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Mangaluru and KMC Hospitals, Mangaluru will hand over a memorandum to Dr. Ramakrishna Rao, District Health Officer (DHO) Mangaluru.
