Build a tobacco-free healthy society: Pathak | Lucknow News

Lucknow/Rae Bareli: Calling tobacco consumption a “curse for humanity”, UP deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak on Friday said that building a healthy society begins with nurturing a tobacco-free generation. Addressing the 7th national tobacco control conference at AIIMS Rae Bareli, he said nearly 13 lakh deaths occur every year in India due to tobacco-related diseases.The conference was organised by the department of community medicine, AIIMS Raebareli. Pathak said tobacco acts like poison in the human body, and quitting the habit is the only way forward. “Heart disease, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and stroke have tobacco as a major risk factor,” he said.

Pathak said tobacco control must be treated as a social policy. “Regulation, education, taxation and public awareness are the pillars of effective tobacco control. It is not merely a health programme but a national human capital protection policy,” he said.Citing data from the national family health survey, Pathak said nearly four out of every 10 men and one out of every 10 women in India consume tobacco in some form. “These alarming figures show how deeply tobacco continues to affect a large section of our population,” he added.He said UP is working to strengthen tobacco control and cessation counselling services at primary health centres, urban health institutions and community levels.Union health minister JP Nadda also addressed the conference virtually. Students who made outstanding contributions in the field of tobacco control were felicitated, and publications, including Tobacco Free Times, were released.