World Tobacco Day – 31st May 2014

Every year, on 31st May, WHO and its partners mark World No Tobacco Day, highlighting the health risks associated with tobacco use and advocating for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption. Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death globally and is currently responsible for 10% of adult deaths worldwide. The global tobacco epidemic kills nearly 6 million people each year, of which more than 600000 are non-smokers dying from breathing second-hand smoke.

The ultimate goal of World No Tobacco Day is to contribute to protecting present and future generations not only from the devastating health consequences due to tobacco, but also from the social, environmental and economic scourges of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke.

The theme of World No Tobacco Day 2014 is “Raise taxes on tobacco“. Research shows that higher taxes are especially effective in reducing tobacco use among lower-income groups and in preventing young people from starting to smoke. Furthermore, increasing excise taxes on tobacco is considered the most cost-effective tobacco control measure.

Since Tobacco consumption is highest among youth, we at Mumbai Smiles took an initiative to create awareness regarding the harmful effects of tobacco consumption among this strata of the population. For this purpose, we organized an awareness session for our HOPE and Future Smiles beneficiaries on 30th May 2014. We specifically targeted the beneficiaries of these two projects since they are the ones who are at the most vulnerable age and might take up tobacco consumption because of peer pressure and many other similar reasons. The session was conducted by Dr. Nirmal from Mumbai Smiles and Dr Kunal, a practicing Tobacco control expert. The 75 beneficiaries were shocked to know that tobacco consumption can cause deadly diseases such as cancer, heart failure etc.

We hope that we have enlightened them about the harmful effects of tobacco consumption and that they would think twice before taking up this vicious habit.