Steadfast in their commitment to fight the growing menace of chewing tobacco products like gutka and khaini, 11 chief ministers have pledged their support to curb this growing menace in their states. Chief Ministers of Assam, Goa, Punjab, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Gujarat agreed to do on behest of victims of oral cancer, doctors and tobacco control advocates of their states. In many states, the victims along with oncologists met their respective Chief Ministers and urged them to protect the people of their states from the harmful effects of tobacco products by banning gutka, implementing stringent pictorial warnings on chewing tobacco products, putting an end to indirect advertising of chewing tobacco product, stopping sale of chewing tobacco products near educational institutions, increasing taxation on all tobacco products.
In Punjab, on this World No Tobacco Day, as a part of this campaign by “Voices of Tobacco Victims”; team from Amandeep Hospital, Amritsar had appealed to Hon’ble Chief Minister Punjab S. Parkash Singh Badal for his support to the cause. Hon’ble Chief Minister has obliged by lending his whole hearted support to the campaign against tobacco use, lauded the efforts of team from Amandeep Hospital, Amritsar in spreading awareness against tobacco and has wished success for this nobel cause.
As a part of this campaign, Dr. Prahlad Duggal, Head & Neck Cancer Surgeon also met Hon’ble Minister of Social Welfare, Punjab, Ms. Laxmi Kanta Chawla with an appeal for support for this cause. She has lent her support to this campaign and signed a pledge calling a ban on gutka and khaini. The pledge states that “I will raise my voice against this issue and support all initiatives to rid India of this menace of gutka and khaini and help save millions of Indian lives".
Our efforts were lauded at the Doctor’s Meet held at India Habitat Center, New Delhi which was attended by Dr. Prahlad Duggal, where eminent doctors treating oral cancer patients from all over the country met to finalize strategy for furthering this cause under the banner of “Voices of Victims”. It was emphasized in the meeting that more efforts are required for forwarding this cause so as to fight the combined might of tobacco companies as various well known lawyers are fighting on behalf of these companies.
At the meeting, Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi , Associate Professor, Head and Neck Department, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai who is running the only cartoon web site against tobacco in the world said that it is heartening that custodians of health of the state have come out openly against tobacco and have pledged their support for tobacco control. We salute all those CMs who have come out openly and urge those whom we could not reach and those who are still not decided about their stand on this issue, to support this initiative to rid India of this menace.
Voice of Tobacco Victims (VOTV) is a national campaign to advocate against chewing tobacco and other smokeless forms. It has been conceptualized and initiated by oral cancer victims who have come together to promote greater awareness about the harmful effects of tobacco use and for appealing for stronger enforcement of tobacco control laws and the complete ban of chewing tobacco in the country.
VOTV is being supported in this initiative by numerous doctors and directors of Regional Cancer Centers from across the country...READ MORE AT
http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/9844802-11-chief-ministers-support-antitobacco-campaign-for-banning-gutka-and-khaini
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