Director of National Health Mission took a meeting, various social organizations were brought on a single platform for tobacco control
Raipur. 5 January 2023
In order to take effective steps towards tobacco control and save the new generation from its harmful effects, the director of the National Health Mission, Mr. Bhoskar Vilas Sandipan, today at Indravati Bhawan, the officials of the Health and Family Welfare Department, representatives of non-governmental organizations and ‘The Had a meeting with the union organization. In the meeting, he instructed to make efforts at the social level to save the young generation from tobacco addiction and to work prominently to change the behavior of the people in this regard.
Continuous work is being done for tobacco control in the state. All the non-governmental organizations at the state level were brought together on a single platform to discuss the seriousness of the ill-effects of tobacco and how to stop its use. A suggestion was also made in the meeting to prepare a comprehensive action plan to stop the use of tobacco and its products in the state.
State Nodal Officer of Tobacco Control Program Dr. Kamlesh Jain informed about the works being done under Tobacco Control Program in the state. He said that according to the Global Adult Survey, 39.1 percent of the total population of the state use tobacco products in some form or the other and 21.9 percent of the population uses tobacco at work place, which is a matter of serious concern. 100% compliance of the provisions of the COTPA Act, 2003 is not being done by the manufacturers of tobacco products. There are many tobacco products in the state which do not comply with section 7 of the COTPA Act, 2003. Along with this, Section 5 of the COTPA Act is also being violated by direct and indirect advertisement of tobacco and tobacco products through various mediums. Everyone needs to take proper action on this.
In the meeting, Mr. Ashish Pandey, Deputy Regional Director of ‘The Union’ informed about the effective laws and policies in the country and informed about the instructions received by the Health and Family Welfare Department of the Government of India for tobacco control. Dr. Amit Yadav, Senior Technical Advisor, ‘The Union’ gave information about various provisions of COTPA Act, 2003 and online MIS. He told about the role of all departments for tobacco control, vendor licensing for proper monitoring and control. Dr. Yadav also explained how the COTPA Act, The provisions of Section 5 and 7 of 2003 are being violated. After discussing in the meeting, suggestions were taken from the representatives of all non-governmental organizations to make the tobacco control program more effective. All the organizations also gave consent for necessary cooperation at their respective level on tobacco control in the state.
