More than 80 nodal officers from higher educational institutions of Delhi-NCR participated in the training and capacity building on “Tobacco Control and Cessation” at Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU) campus here.

The programme was organised by the National Resource Centre for Oral Health and Tobacco Cessation, under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in collaboration with Maulana Azad Institute of Dental Sciences and GGSIPU. The participants were sensitised on the enforcement of tobacco laws in higher educational institutions.
In his address, Mahesh Verma, Vice Chancellor of GGSIPU said that consumption of tobacco is a ‘sure short pathway to devastation’.

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“We need to bust the myth about tobacco smoking, be it the natural ‘bidi’ leaves or e-cigarette. The need of the hour is to bring individuals to the ‘no smoking zone. Only a ‘public movement’ can lead us to a ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047,” he said.

During the programme, the experts informed that in India, the tobacco industry has a turnover of over Rs 70,000 crore, and around 27 crore people consume tobacco, of which 20 crore are smokeless tobacco users.

“Around 13.5 lakh deaths occur per year and approximately 5,500 children start smoking tobacco every day,” they said.

As per the MoHFW guidelines of ToFEI (To Free Educational Institutions), the Ministry of Education is working towards 100 per cent tobacco free educational institutes by 2026.