World No Tobacco Day 2017

Worldwide the World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) is observed annually on 31 May by WHO member countries to highlight the illeffects of tobacco and to call on governments to take effective tobacco-control measures.

Consumer Voice supported its partners in seven states in observing WNTD. The states were Gujarat, Chandigarh (Haryana),

Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Assam. The main objective of the event was to spread awareness about the harmful effects of tobacco. The events highlighted the fact that in India about 10 lakh people die every year due to tobacco use, of which the majority are bidi consumers.

The events saw the presence of eminent personalities from different fields including representatives from the medical fraternity, police departments, judges and lawyers, government officials from health department and Tobacco Control Cells, National Health Mission officials, students, groups of women from anganwadis, consumer organisations, tobacco activists, tobacco victims and the media.

In Chandigarh, the chief guests were the governor of Haryana Kaptan Singh Solanki and former union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal. The Rajkot event was presided over by the police commissioner Anup Sinh Gehlot. In Shimla, assistant commissioner Isha Thakur and renowned oncologist Dr Gopal Chauhan were the special guests for the programme.

In Rajkot and Chandigarh, rallies were also organised to spread the message about tobacco usage. Representatives from Consumer Voice made presentations through short films demonstrating the impact of tobacco consumption on human health.