Tuesday, August 1, 2006

Anti-Tobacco Week


Goal : 
To educate the people about health by informing, motivating and helping people to adopt and maintain healthy practices and lifestyles.
It is well known fact that the habit of chewing tobacco is increasing day by day amongst the youth. There is a need to make the community aware about the diseases which are caused by chewing tobacco. Therefore awareness activities had been undertaken by displaying charts, posters, handbill etc.



Smoking (Tobacco Use)
The incremental risk of getting heart attacks is common to all users of tobacco. The risk is same whether one uses filter or non-filter cigarettes, beedies, pipe/cigar or chews tobacco.
The risk however increases with the number of cigarettes/day smoked. Smoking 1 - 9 cigarettes increases the risk 1.5 times. 10 - 19 cigarettes/day increases the risk by 2.7 times and smoking >20 cigarettes/day increases the risk 5 folds. 
Within 3 years of quitting smoking the risk attributed to smoking ceases to exist. Cutting smoking prevalence in the society by even 10% is more cost effective then setting up 30 specialized hospitals. Public education to curb this habit needs promotion.