Call to enforce curbs on tobacco use

Public health experts and officials participating in a workshop organised by the Health Department here have stressed the need for strict enforcement of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) to discourage consumption of tobacco.

The meeting decided to enforce the ban on smoking in public places and advertising of tobacco products and discourage scenes of smoking in movies.

It also resolved to take stern action against the sale of tobacco products in shops near educational institutions and sale to children below 18 years of age.

Speakers at the workshop observed that smoking was increasingly being shown in movies and trailers exhibited on social media platforms.

Workshop

Additional Director (Public Health) V.Meenakshi inaugurated the workshop.

A report circulated at the workshop said 10 lakh people in india and 40,000 in Kerala were victims of various diseases caused by consumption of tobacco and its products every year. About 10 to 14% of deaths in the country were caused by tobacco, it observed.

District level officials from the Health Department participated in the event.