WHO award for SEEDS for tobacco control work
DATA OF THE GLOBAL ADULT TOBACCO SURVEY 2017 SUGGESTS BIHAR IN THE LAST 8 YRS HAS REDUCED ITS NUMBER OF TOBACCO USERS FROM 53.5% TO 25.9%
PATNA: Socio Economic and Educational Development Society (SEEDS) of Bihar has been selected by the World Health Organization (WHO) for its ‘World No Tobacco Day 2020 Award’ for its efforts in the field of tobacco control in the south-east Asia region.
SEEDS is a national-level social organization working in tobacco control for more than a decade and has worked with the union ministry of health and family welfare, Bihar and Jharkhand governments, district administrations and the civil society.
Despite big decline in the number of tobacco users due to a number of initiatives, Bihar still remains a state with high prevalence of smokeless tobacco, especially ‘khaini’, which is a challenge for the state to effectively enforce its order banning spitting in public places in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic.
On the occasion of ‘World No Tobacco Day’ (May 31) every year, WHO awards select organizations and individuals from its six regions for their exceptional contribution in the field of tobacco control. SEEDS is among the three awardees in the southeast Asia region and the only one from India.
Following active efforts and advocacy by SEEDS against tobacco and nicotine addiction, both Bihar and Jharkhand governments have completely banned pan masala, gutkha, electronic cigarettes and illegal hookah to protect the young and vulnerable including women and poor from the scourge of tobacco.
Data of the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS 2017) suggests that Bihar in the last 8 years has reduced its number of tobacco users from 53.5% to 25.9%, while in Jharkhand it has come down from 50.1% to 38.9%.
Impressed by the tobacco control work done by SEEDS, the governments of Bihar and Jharkhand have nominated Deepak Mishra (executive director of SEEDS) as a member of the state tobacco control coordination committee that is headed by the respective chief secretaries.
The union health ministry also nominated Mishra as a member of the task force to the de-addiction campaign that is led by the secretary of the union ministry of health and family welfare.
“I am happy that WHO has selected SEEDS for World No Tobacco Day Award (WNTD 2020)”,” said senior IAS officer Sanjay Kumar, who had a long stint with Bihar’s health department till May 20.