Pledge for a life without tobacco urges Health experts

Narayana Health City in association with Consortium for Tobacco Free Karnataka (CFTFK) conducted a series of panel discussions on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day

Bengaluru, 31^st May 2019: Globally 1.1 billion are smokers and in India 9,32,600 adult smokers are addicted to this habit. 6,25,000 number of new people are getting in to the habits of smoking of which young teenage are the vulnerable population to get initiated in to this bad habit. In an effort to address the harmful effects of tobacco on the youth, the society and the eco-system, Narayana Health City in association with Consortium for Tobacco Free Karnataka (CFTFK) today conducted a series of panel discussions at their premises.  The event witnessed Dr. Anupama Shetty, CSR Head, Narayana Health, Prof. I B Vijayalakshmi, Paediatric Cardiologist, PMSSY Super Speciality Hospital, Dr Alex Thomas, President, Association of Healthcare Provider in India, Mr. Vekatka Ravi Talla, IRS, Tobacco Board, Min of Industries and Commerce, Dr. S Ramakrishna, Head CTRI addressing the gathering.  The key note address was delivered by Dr. Devi Shetty, Chairman and Founder, Narayana Health.

The event saw deliberation on how children are becoming vulnerable to tobacco addiction calling for greater awareness and stringent efforts to curb the usage of tobacco. The forum also witnessed holistic discussion on the impact of tobacco on all stake holders. Apart from the impact on health, it also addressed the issues the growers and retailers will face advent of stopping tobacco production. It also saw deliberations on the effect of tobacco on the eco-system.

Addressing the gathering Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty, Chairman and Founder, Narayana Health, said, “I do deal with large number of patients who are victims of smoking. One of the root cause of heart attack in India is smoking. Majority of patients who undergo bye-pass grafting are smokers. It’s not the old retired people who develop heart attack but the young bread winners of the family. And one thing very unique about most of them is that they all started smoking at a young age, virtually from the school days.  So I am glad that we are making an effort to educate the younger generation about the ill-effects of smoking. I am so happy to hear that you all have taken an oath today that you all will not smoke. I am sure you all will not smoke and you will make sure that your family members are also do not smoke.”

“Once again, I am extremely grateful to the organiser, year after year we conduct this meeting and create awareness and this is very important. We should never give up. We should print lot more posters and put it up in all the schools across Karnataka.” added Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty

Elaborating about the event, Prof. Ramesh S Bilimagga, President, Consortium for Tobacco Free Karnataka, said, “More and more youngster, especially teenagers are becoming vulnerable to tobacco consumption and hence it is imperative to focus our attention on them. Through the panel discussion our aim was to educate, influence and dissuade them from getting hooked on to this habit. Further, we also wanted to create awareness among other stake holder like farmers and retailers as well. ”

Apart from highlighting the impact of tobacco the event witnessed experts urging attendees to take a pledge to say no to tobacco in any form. Apart from experts the panel discussion saw children from various schools in and around Anekal also attending the deliberations