Dr. C Tetseo, district nodal officer, Nagaland Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP) disclosed this at an awareness programme on Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COPTA) 2003 held here at Holy Cross Higher Secondary School on Tuesday. Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC) and District Tobacco Control Cell jointly organized the awareness programme targeted at hoteliers, restaurateurs, tobacco dealers and pan shops.
On global tobacco scenario, Dr. Tetseo said there are 1.1 billion tobacco users in the world, which is likely to go up to 1.6 billion in next 2 decades. He also said that use of tobacco is the main cause of poverty in some of the third world countries. “One research shows that poorest people in Indonesia spend 70% of their income on tobacco and in Bangladesh the poor spend on tobacco 10 times more than what they spend on education. The health care, nutrition and education in poorer countries are severely compromised due to tobacco,” he added. Tetseo said the diseases caused by tobacco include cancer, TB, asthma, pneumonia, diabetes, eye damage, stroke and heart attack.
On the brighter side, Tetseo said that with the determination of the government to phase out tobacco products gradually by way of increasing taxes on tobacco products, increasing of legal age to buy tobacco products and increasing restriction on its uses and sales, the business of tobacco would become less and less profitable.
Food Safety Officer, Sendong Jamir, explained on the various sections of COPTA 2003, which was passed by Indian Parliament in 2003. Jamir said under Section IV, smoking is banned in public places including government buildings, public transport, hotels, restaurants, hospitals, schools, railway station and airport lounges. Under Section V, there is a ban all forms of direct and indirect advertisement of tobacco products. Section VI deals with ban on sale of tobacco products to and by minors, and ban on sale of tobacco and tobacco products within 100 yards of educational institutions. Jamir said under Section VII of COPTA 2003, it is mandatory for manufacturers to depict specified health warnings on tobacco product packages. The food safety officers also brief the hoteliers and tobacco products dealers on the penalties for violation f the ACT.
Liaison officer, DMC, Ganesh Sharma and former president of Dimapur Naga Students’ Union, Medovoi Medeo, also highlighted on the negative impacts of tobacco use.
Source: Morung Express
Post a Comment