No smoking pledges, rallies mark World No Tobacco Day

Awareness camps and public rallies against various forms of tobacco use marked the World No Tobacco Day here on Sunday.

At the Kempegowda Bus Station (Majestic), Narain Sewa Sansthan, a non-profit, collaborated with the Transport Department to organise a public awareness and checkup camp for smokers from 10.30 am to 2 pm.

A carbon monoxide test conducted on 253 people found that 69 per cent of them have a higher amount (20 ppm) of carbon monoxide level in their lungs either due to smoking or pollution.

The test was conducted by Dr Sachin Sinha, general secretary, Narain Sewa Sansthan, and Khushboo Rani, a psychologist.

At the venue, anti-tobacco posters and placards were displayed all around. Nearly 300 people took the pledge not to smoke by taking part in an anti-tobacco signature campaign.

Documentary screened

A documentary film on the health hazards of tobacco use and oral cancer was shown to passengers, bus drivers and conductors in the waiting area of the bus station. The documentary dealt with harmful effects of tobacco in smokers and non-smokers by second-hand or environmental smoke, which causes stroke, heart attack, respiratory disorders, blindness, cleft lip and palate, impotency, hypertension, lung and mouth cancer.

The Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology organised a rally to Lalbagh, in which over 500 students from various nursing and medical colleges from across Bengaluru and patients’ attendants took part. Participants interacted with people en route.

National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (Nimhans) director, Dr P Satish Chandra, and Dr K B Linge Gowda, director, Kidwai, flagged off the rally. In addition, a magic show was organised to mark the occasion.  Kidwai to conduct rallies

Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, in association with various government departments, is planning to hold an awareness rally in one district every month. The first such rally would be held in Tumakuru by the end of June.