The Ahmedabad Medical Association (AMA) is going to organise a seminar on the occasion of No Tobacco Day in association with Family Clinic consisting of groups of doctors at the AMA Hall from 9 am to 10 am on Monday.
Dr Pragnesh Vastraranjani, senior medical practitioner and vice president of AMA said, “The seminar has been organised to create awareness on harmful affects of tobacco on human life.”
Every year on May 31, World No Tobacco Day is observed and this year the emphasis is on marketing to women. The adverse affects on reproductive health, including those on unborn child and also the newborn, are issues of grave concern for women.
In addition, the tobacco industry engages large number of women in tobacco farming and manufacturing thereby exposing them to a
multitude of adverse health effects.
Apart from holding a seminar, the AMA would also organise a week-long exhibition of pictures and designs on various harmful effects of tobacco. The exhibition will be held across various private clinics of the city at Shastri Nagar, Isanpur, Maninagar, Sabarmati, Chandkheda and Vejalpur from Tuesday to Saturday.
The demonstration will consist of pictorial health warnings, a scorpion, an X-ray image of diseased lungs, and a coloured picture of diseased lungs. “This will go a long way in creating awareness among the citizens,” Vastraranjani claimed.
Vastraranjani added that annually in Ahmedabad around 8,000 to 10,000 people die due to consumption of tobacco by both chewing and smoking. Figures revealed that around 20% of cancer cases in the city are due to tobacco and in major cases the victims are passive smokers. Vastraranjani said that people should avoid smoking in public places like offices and in houses as children are the most vulnerable to side effects of smoking.
