[1]Nearly 40 per cent of children in the city are exposed to passive smoking which makes them vulnerable to cancer as they inhale the toxic smoke at home from their fathers, says a survey conducted by Adyar Cancer Institute (ACI).
It reveals that the small tobacco shops close to their schools and bus stops will affect the children in the long run.
Explaining the study, Dr Vidhubala of the resource centre for tobacco control in ACI said, “We should understand that there is no safe-level usage of tobacco.
There is a wrong notion that smoking less number of times will do no harm. The fact is that when the body becomes incapable of metabolising the toxic substance, even passive smokers have an equal chance of getting cancer.”
Smoking not only kills those who smoke, but also the innocents who are around him, says Dr Arvind Krishnamurthy, surgical oncologist at ACI. “People should understand that roads are not the place for smoking. They need to understand that they are indirectly causing slow death to people around them,” he warned.
Though the anti-tobacco law has stringent measures, the city corporation and state tobacco cell (STC) officials fail to implement them, reveals an RTI petition by Deccan Chronicle. According to the corporation officials, they have booked just 1,140 persons for smoking in public places since the implementation of the anti-tobacco law 2008.The reasons given by the officials for this sound lame.
“We do not have enough fining booklets. The STC did not provide the booklets to us,” they complain. But STC blames the city health officials for not coming forward to implement the Act.
“They have not performed from early 2011,” says a senior officer of the cell. The officer said fining booklets would have been supplied if they had received requests.
The corporation and STC have collected just `26,54,960 as fine from people found smoking in public since 2008.
STC state consultant Prasanna Kannan said, “When we can book so many people for violation, why can’t the corporation perform well? They don’t have the will to do it. We can completely stop this menace if the corporation wakes up.”
But corporation commissioner D. Karthikeyan said his men were doing their best.
When asked about very few people being fined, he said, “The law is in force and the corporation will enforce it strictly. I will speak to my health officers’ team.”
Apathy fails Tobacco Products Act
The sale of tobacco products within 200 metres of educational institutions is an offence according to the Control of Tobacco Products Act.
But this rule is grossly violated, say activists. They complain that the careless attitude of the civic and other government officials has led this legislation to fail completely. The officials entrusted with this duty keep inspection at best minimal, they charge.
When asked why the law was not being enforced, a senior health officer of the city corporation said: “Do they really smoke? I do not see anyone smoking in public places.”
Meera Ramkumar, a college student, said, “Women are mostly non-smokers. There are uncivilised men who puff away without even looking around. I get throat infection when I inhale smoke at the bus stop, and I suffer for weeks after that.”
Rights activist Cyril Alexander said the approach to curbing smoking in public places should be an integrated effort. “The law needs to be enforced strongly.
We are concerned about the fact that teenage students are fast picking up this bad habit because of peer pressure. In course of time, they become chain smokers,” he said. Student volunteers should be involved in anti-tobacco campaigns, he suggested.
Mr A. Palani, chairman of the standing committee for health in the corporation, promised to take all efforts to raise awareness. He said he would ask health officers of all zones to implement the rule strictly. He would propose to the corporation council to increase the fine amount.
health hazards
Dr Elango, former director of Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, said that there was a case in 2009 in Semmiyampalayam village in Namakkal district where a child died because his father was smoking inside the hut. Due to lack of ventilation in that hut and the smoke the child inhaled resulted in death. This is very much possible even in an urban set up, he added.
Psychologists
Psychologists pooh-poohed claims that cigarettes help to relive stress. Psychologist Ms Lalitha said that children learn this habit either from their parents or due to peer pressure. Parents need to spend more time with their wards and they should not substitute it with money. She also said smokers claiming cigarettes relive stress is simply due to their hallucination.
Helpline
Smokers or persons who want to join the anti-tobacco programmes can contact helpline 044-22351615 in the Adyar Cancer Institute for assistance. The institute provides various facilities and anti-smoking therapies free of cost.
Links:
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