The World No Tobacco Day was observed enthusiastically by various organisations in Vijayawada on Friday. Students of the Pinnamaneni-Siddartha Dental College in association with the Vijayawada Walkers Association took out a rally with a banner of the Indian Dental Association (IDA) from the Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium.
The students and walkers raised slogans against the government for allowing the sale and consumption of tobacco products that were causing harm in various forms not only to the users, but also to those who live with them. Vijayawada Walkers’ Association vice-president J.Basweswara Rao said the students and walkers went in a rally to the Sub-collector’s office and submitted a memorandum demanding a ban on all tobacco products. In a separate programme at the HCG Curie City Cancer Centre, chief radiation oncologist V.S.N Rao said that there was one tobacco consumer in every 15 cancer patients.
Dr Rao said that 30 of the 3,000 chemicals that were introduced into the blood of smokers from a cigarette had been found to be carcinogenic beyond doubt.
HCG Centre Manager said that a PET scan that could pinpoint the various places affected by cancer could be commissioned by HCG in the city in June first week. This would be useful for doctors to find out how much of the cancer was cured after various forms of treatment like radiation and surgery.
