Need for cessation clinics in India

It has been rightly pointed out in the world conference on tobacco or health which is being held in mumbai, that it is high time India has an adequate set of cessation clinics in place to help smokers get rid of their smoking habits.
Do you think as these clinics come up, a rigorous anti-tobacco campaign needs to begin simultaneously so that people feel the need to get rid of this habit and are easliy persuaded to come to these clinics for the same.what do you think?

Global Youth Leaders Meet to Voice Concern on Tobacco

To complement the 14th World Conference on Tobacco or Health (14-WCTOH), a two day Youth workshop: Global Youth Meet on Tobacco Control (GYM, 2009) is being held on March 6 and 7, 2009 in Mumbai. Salaam Bombay Foundation (SBF) in collaboration with HRIDAY (Health Related Information Dissemination Amongst Youth) is organizing this Youth Conference in Mumbai.

About 140 delegates (youth and adult chaperones) from 27 countries and 7 states of India are participating in GYM-2009. Together with adult facilitators, young people are meeting as a group and deliberating on issues related to tobacco control that will directly affect their present and future health.

The two themes during GYM, 2009 will be ‘Promoting smoke-free environments’ and ‘Ban on Tobacco Advertisement and Promotion’

The overall workshop would introduce participants to 8 themes which are relevant to tobacco control and youth under FCTC:

 Protection from tobacco smoke
 Raising of taxes on all tobacco products
 Mass media interventions
 Reducing the availability of tobacco products
 Tobacco packaging, labeling and Health warnings
 Prohibiting Tobacco marketing and Promotion
 Cessation programmes and initiative
 School based initiatives

Passive smoking increases the risk of Dementia by 44%

British medical journal found a 44% increased risk of Dementia among people exposed to high level of secondhand smoke. Inhaling secondhand smoke can damage the brain and impair cognitive functions such as memory.

Will pictorial health warnings on tobacco products really discourage tobacco use?

The government has deferred the decision to implement pictorial warnings on tobacco products.This ofcourse goes against all those who are fighting on the dangers of tobacco use.But the real question is will these warnings really help? As we saw in the previous postings by people on this blog that picking up a cigarette is a personal choice.what do you think?

Will removal of ban on smoking in films encourage smoking amongst the youth?

The recent verdict to lift ban on smoking in films has come in as quite a dampener in the government’s crusade for banning smoking. Judge S.K. Kaul of Delhi High court has announced that “A cinematographic film must reflect the realities of life. Smoking is a reality of life! It is undesirable but it exists. It is not banned by law.”

Film Stars serve as role models to the society especially the youth. Research has proven that children or even youngsters try to emulate their role models. So by lifting this ban in films we are actually encouraging smoking amongst them. This brings about an even stronger challenge for all of us who are fighting the war against tobacco, to come together as one voice and keep pacing up the anti-tobacco campaign.

Third hand smoke, First hand problem

Third-hand smoke is tobacco smoke contamination that remains after the cigarette has been extinguished," says Jonathan Winickoff, a pediatrician at the Dana–Farber/Harvard Cancer Center in Boston and author of a study on the new phenomenon published in the journal Pediatrics. According to the study, a large number of people, particularly smokers, have no idea that third-hand smoke—the cocktail of toxins that linger in carpets, sofas, clothes and other materials hours or even days after a cigarette is put out—is a health hazard for infants and children..

There are 250 poisonous toxins found in cigarette smoke. One such substance is lead. Very good studies show that tiny levels of exposure are associated with diminished IQ 

In an interview with ScientificAmerican.com, Winickoff observes that children ingest twice the amount of dust that grown-ups do. Let's say a grown-up weighs 150 pounds [68 kilograms]. Let's say a baby weighs 15 pounds [seven kilograms]. The infant ingests twice the dust [due to faster respiration and proximity to dusty surfaces]. Effectively, they'll get 20 times the exposure!  

A point worth considering, for those who smoke at home and still wonder why their kids don’t make the grades in school!

Smoking Mothers Beware!

In a recent report published in the media it was found by Australia's New South Wales Cancer Institute that children whose mothers smoked during their pregnancy had stronger chances of getting cancer in their childhood.