NewsPatrolling.com / Newzopedia.com : On the eve of World Cancer Day, teachers and students from over 1 lakh schools across Maharashtra, pledge for a tobacco-free life
February 3rd, Mumbai: The Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS-2) has revealed worrying statistics about tobacco consumption among teenagers and youngsters in Maharashtra. While the tobacco prevalence has dipped from 31.4 per cent to 26.6 per cent among adults in the last seven years across the state, tobacco consumption has risen from 2.9 per cent to 5.5 per cent among youngsters aged between 15 and 17. The mean age at initiation has also decreased from 18.5 years (GATS1) to 17.4 years (GATS2). Salaam Mumbai Foundation, the rural arm of Salaam Bombay Foundation brought together teachers and students from over one lakh schools across Maharashtra to pledge for a tobacco-free life on the eve of World Cancer Day on February 3. The activity was an extension of the NGO’s tobacco-free school campaign and had all the participating schools conducting an awareness drive along with anti-tobacco messaging culminating in the pledge-taking activity.
The pledge-taking activity was held across the state and encouraged over seven lakh teachers and 2.22 crores children to lead a healthier life.
World Cancer Day is observed internationally on February 4 to raise awareness about cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment. India accounts for 86% of the world's oral cancer cases, 90% being caused by tobacco consumption. Salaam Mumbai Foundation has been working towards creating a tobacco-free environment for a safer and a healthier future for more than 10 crore children across Maharashtra through its different programmes. Supporting them in their endeavour is the Government of Maharashtra that has been striving to meet the goal of 100 per cent tobacco- free schools and enforcing the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 (COPTA) (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce Production, Supply and Distributor).
Rajashree Kadam, VP – Operations – Tobacco Control Maharashtra, Salaam Mumbai Foundation, said, “The recent findings of GATS 2 are extremely alarming. The age at which youngsters are initiated into trying tobacco for the first time has come down. Safeguarding our children and youngsters from tobacco is our biggest concern and we have always aimed to make youngsters our champions against the tobacco epidemic. On account of World Cancer Day, schoolchildren as well as their teachers took an oath to stay tobacco-free themselves as well as make their environment tobacco-free.”
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