NEW DELHI, Sept 6 – The Union Health Ministry has announced former Indian cricket team captain Rahul Dravid as brand ambassador for its National Tobacco Control Campaign, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.
C K Mishra, Additional Secretary of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), said while making the announcement on Thursday that India is committed to strengthening tobacco control.
“Despite evidence-based tobacco control policies, smoking continues. India played a leading role in the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) negotiations, and has been striving to implement more tobacco control measures,” Mishra said.
He said it is only through a collective resolve by governments, world leaders, development partners and civil society will countries be able to protect future generations against the harmful effects of tobacco use.
With the World Health Assembly adopting a 30 percent target of tobacco use reduction by 2025, the global narrative on tobacco control is increasingly exploring the concept of ‘tobacco endgame’ to reduce tobacco availability to minimal levels.
“Since tobacco also degrades the environment, actions to reduce the production and marketing of tobacco must also be vigorously pursued alongside effective implementations of demand reduction measures,” Mishra said.
The Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and Health Related Information Dissemination Amongst Youth (HRIDAY) are organising an international conference on “Public Health Priorities in the 21st Century: The Endgame for Tobacco” from Sept 10 to 12.
About 500 participants from more than 50 countries will gather at the conference to present strategies to fight global tobacco epidemic.
– BERNAMA
