Principals of 170 engineering colleges affiliated to Anna University of Technology (AUT), Chennai, should commit themselves to tobacco-free institutions for the benefit of 2.72 lakh students, Vice-Chancellor C. Thangaraj has said.
Inaugurating an orientation meet for the principals of affiliated colleges, Prof. Thangaraj said the heads of institutions had a moral obligation as educators to provide smoke free campus. Advisory mechanisms would not work with the student population. Making small efforts would lead to bigger yields.
“There are 16,000 teachers and 2.72 lakh students. Make it a movement. The message will definitely trickle down.”
Principals should ban sale, storage or use of tobacco within a 100-metre radius of the institutions, said E. Vidhubala of the Resource Centre for Tobacco Control, Cancer Institute (WIA). Unlike habitual smokers, students' use of tobacco largely depends on accessibility. A tobacco-free institution could bring down use by 70 to 80 per cent. Apart from banning, display boards in and outside the campus, institutions should have peer counsellors and a monitoring committee to implement the initiatives, she said.
Dr. T.G. Sagar, Director and Dean, Cancer Institute, said that Anna University was the first to become tobacco-free institution in 2008 followed by 13 more engineering colleges in the city.
In the State, 1000 educational institutions had been declared tobacco-free but that was not enough.
V. Shanta, Chairman, Cancer Institute, said that the use of tobacco in the country was growing by 3 to 4 per cent annually.
About 40 per cent of cancer in men was tobacco-related and 50 per cent of premature deaths were in the prime of life. Passive smoking was as hazardous as actual smoking, largely affecting children, family and bystanders, she said emphasising that smoking was a disease and withdrawing would be difficult. Heads of educational institutions have a social responsibility, she said.
