Tura, May 3: World No Tobacco Day is observed on the 31st May every year across the globe. This year’s theme chosen in Meghalaya is “My Meghalaya, Tobacco Free Meghalaya”. There is widespread awareness that tobacco is harmful to all organs of the human body. What is not so well appreciated is the harm tobacco does to the environment and in pushing people below the poverty line.

Speaking on the World No Tobacco Day (WNTD’23) launch in Meghalaya, Dr. Lana L. Nongbri, State Nodal Officer, National Tobacco Control Program, Department of Health, Government of Meghalaya said, “Tobacco not only kills its best customers but also destroys our environment. This is a product that is consumed by 47% adults (aged 15+) in our State. It kills 8,000 people in Meghalaya every year. With this background, the World No Tobacco Day 2023 (WNTD’23) campaign was launched on April 22, 2023 asking all schools to do two activities: (1) a rally against tobacco and (2) signature campaign. This campaign is part of the Tobacco Free Educational Institutions (ToFEI) program being run in the state from March 2021 in collaboration with Sambandh Health Foundation. Last year the campaign was a huge success and this year we want not just the students and teachers, but also the community to get involved.”

Tobacco kills more than 7 million people every year globally and 13.5 lakh in India. Tobacco is the world’s single-most reversible cause of death. About 560 cigarette manufacturing facilities in the world produce more than 6 trillion cigarettes every year. It has consequences such as deforestation, the use of fossil fuels and the dumping or leaking of waste products. Maximum litter is caused by the butts of smoked cigarettes, which are not biodegradable and poison the environment for years.

Appreciating the schools, the Deputy Commissioner, South Garo Hills, Shivansh Awasthi, said, “Tobacco is a gateway to drugs. Six out of 17 SDGs are impacted by tobacco. It is the leading risk factor for four non-communicable diseases. The WNTD campaign sensitizes the students & community and will bring a behaviour change leading to reduced consumption of tobacco. Last year’s WNTD22 campaign in South Garo Hills, 322 schools conducted rallies, 35,799 signatures were collected and more than 13,994 students participated. This year also we are urging schools to participate and conduct both rallies & signature campaigns. We are proud of our state and will do everything to protect our beautiful Meghalaya from being harmed by tobacco in any way.”