Write up in Hindu on tobacco study

Bangalore: The findings of a study, conducted by the Institute of Public Health (IPH), Bangalore, this year, shows that over 50 per cent of pre-university (PU) students pursuing courses in arts and humanities are smokers.
The rules and advertisements to discourage the use of tobacco products by the youth have had no impact on students in Bangalore.
The study revealed that 58.9 per cent of students of arts and humanities, followed by 30.6 per cent and 10.6 per cent students of science and commerce streams, respectively, use tobacco products.
The study was conducted in two stages in Bangalore’s 19 PU colleges on 1,087 students of first year PU (53 per cent) and second year PU (47 per cent). At least 18 colleges had one or more tobacco selling points within 100 yards of their campus. The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2005 prohibits sale of tobacco products within 100 yards of any educational institution. As much as 55.8 per cent of students said that peer pressure had influenced them to use tobacco products.
More than 30 per cent said their teachers were smokers, while 31.74 per cent said that at least one parent used tobacco products. Cinema influence
As much as 18 per cent felt the need to smoke or consume tobacco when they saw film stars smoking or chewing gutka in films, IPH’s Upendra Bhojani, who conducted the study under the guidance of the Institute for Social and Economic Change, told The Hindu.
Click below to view the link: http://www.hindu.com/2009/02/18/stories/2009021855881000.htm

Urban Health

The next partners' meeting for Urban Health will be held at CMAI on 28th January 2009.

National Conference on “Human Resources for Health in India”

Dr.N. Devadasan delivered a talk on "Public health workforce in India" and chaired the session on "AI/PI Preparedness" at the 53rd National Conference of IPHA held at KIMS, Bangalore from 8th -11th January,2009.

Educational networking workshop at Antwerp

Dr.N.Devadasan and Dr.Upendra Bhojani attended the educational networking workshop organized by the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp to explore the possibility of establishing a network among organizations which have istitutional collaboration with ITM, Antwerp.The workshop was held from 3rd- 7th of November, 2008.

Medical camp in support of Dr. Binayak Sen

Dr.N.Devadasan and Mr.S.J Chander from IPH organised a free medical camp for the poor to express their opposition against the imprisonment of human rights activist Dr.Binayak Sen.The camp was held at L.R Nagar on 25-04-08.

Click here to view a scanned copy of the newspaper article.

Click here to read an article on this issue that appeared in Indian Health Front.

Public Health forum

Public Health Forum was held on 21-02-2008, at CMAI, Bangalore. Ms. Asha Goutham and Ms. Baneen Karachiwala from Belaku trust presented on "issues related to the quality of health care and it was followed by a brief discussion.

India Infoline News Article

Support towards pictorial tobacco warnings gains momentum
India Infoline News Service / Mumbai Dec 12, 2007 16:13
Walkathon & activities held in Shimla, Chennai & Bangalore – other cities to follow suit!
The much awaited implementation of the pictorial warnings law for all tobacco products has been postponed for the fourth time. Supporters of pictorial warnings that include YMCA, Shimla; Maharana Pratap Jan Kalyan Sansthan, Jubbal; Gramudyog Welfare Worker’s Association; and Mahila Vikas Sadan, and the Advocacy Forum for Tobacco Control (AFTC) are actively demonstrating their support by means of different activities across cities.
The most recent was the Shimla Walkathon for Pictorial Warnings held on 11th December. Supporters from Healis Sekhsaria Institute for Public Health, Himachal Pradesh Voluntary Health Association (HPVHA), and other local health organizations along with hundreds of students participated in a walkathon with the common objective of reiterating their solidarity towards the government’s decision.
The law which mandates all tobacco products to carry images of cancerous tumors supposed to be implemented from December 1 was postponed owing to various reasons cited by the tobacco manufacturers. Dr. P. C. Gupta, Director, “Tobacco manufactures do not want to tell the truth to people because it may affect their profits. The arguments of size are specious—they can increase the pack size. If they are concerned about the plight of the workers let them provide health insurance and other benefits to the workers that they are entitled to by law.”
Shriniwas Joshi, Retd. IAS Officer, said at the press conference held at Shimla after the Walkathon, “Today, 40% diseases are tobacco-related; 45000 crore rupees is being spent annually for the treatment of these diseases. Soft warnings do not help. Pictorial warnings will communicate these messages more effectively. Communities including the public health organizations and the common public have a major role in supporting such a cause and make a strong demand for its implementation.”
The social organizations actively propagating the law conducted similar events in cities like Chennai & Bangalore. In Chennai, in the spirit of Human rights day on 9th December, hundreds of children came together to demand their right to tobacco smoke-free environment and pictorial warnings on all tobacco products. A human chain demonstration with over three-hundred children and 100 adults was organized by Pasumai Thayagam a social organization in front of the State Guest House, Chapaulk, Chennai in order to communicate their support for immediate implementation of the current law. Similarly, a signature campaign was organized by S.J. Chander, of Institute of Public Health, Bangalore on 7th December. Students from various colleges signed the banners that read “Save lives now! A day’s delay is 2000 lives lost.” The banners, with more than 10000 signatures were presented before the Governor of Bangalore, Rameshwar Thakur, alongwith a memorandum appealing the Governor to support implementation, on 11th December by S.J. Chander and representatives of various colleges. The Governor expressed his support towards the cause by signing the banner.
The concentrated efforts of the multiple organizations conducting and participating in nationwide activities is to show the support for the government’s decision of implementing pictorial warnings that they believe would ultimately lead to better awareness regarding health hazards of tobacco and reduction in tobacco usage.