India: RGUHS Launches Anti-tobacco Drive

Source from:  Deccan Chronicle  08/09/2013

The Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) is planning to implement the anti-tobacco policy at all its 610 affiliated colleges across the state by September-October. As a first step, the university has started training the university staff and students of dental colleges based in Bengaluru. Some of the dental colleges have already started implementing the policy.

As part of the programme, tobacco-cessation clinics will be set up at these dental colleges, said Dr K.S. Nagesh, director, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Public Health, situated in the RGUHS premises. The 34 affiliated colleges are first on the list as most tobacco-related cancers are oral.

"We are sending circulars to all our affiliated colleges to keep the campus free of tobacco and also ban any form of tobacco advertising," he said. The policy has been planned by the public health department of RGUHS and the initiative has been taken up in association with the De-Addiction Centre of National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro­sciences (Nim­hans).

"Despite a ban on tobacco use in public places and a recent ban on the manufacture and sale of tobacco products in the state, cases of tobacco-related oral cancer have been rampant in the state. That is the reason we came up with this initiative. As being a medical university, we thought of starting off with our colleges first," said Dr Nagesh.

Karnataka has around two crore tobacco users and nearly one-third of them could die a premature death, according to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey, conducted by the Union ministry of health. Enditem