A review meeting of State Level Co-ordination Committee was held today under the Chairpersonship of Anjali Bhawra, Principal Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Punjab.During the meeting, Anjali Bhawra, Principal Secretary Health and Family Welfare said that specialised focus would be centered on protecting children and youth from tobacco abuse and strictly implementing of Section 6 of COTPA which is required as the students in the school and colleges are in vulnerable phase of their lives. She instructed all nodal officers of the various departments that the sale of loose cigarettes need to be checked strictly as it is banned under Section 7 of COTPA which also prohibits sale of tobacco products without health warnings. Mrs. Bhawra said that a united effort from all departments is the immediate need of the hour to completely eradicate the menace of tobacco and nicotine and it is the responsibility of every stakeholder department and civil society to create awareness about hazards of Tobacco/Nicotine and implement the anti-tobacco/nicotine laws effectively. She further added that efforts would be made by Excise and Taxation Department to raise VAT on Bidi’s & Smokeless Tobacco in order to bring it at par with Cigarettes.
On the occasion, Dr. H S Bali, Director Health Services disclosed that more than 300 Villages in Punjab have been declared as Tobacco Free. He divulged that instructions have been given to all Food Safety Officers to take at least 5 samples of SLT/Pan Masala of different brands from various shops in their districts. He further said that Labour Department would organize sensitization/training programme to sensitize their workers regarding all the preventable diseases like dengue, Malaria along with ill effects of tobacco and encouraging their workers not to smoke even in their houses. He said that Punjab was the first State to declare E-cigarettes as unapproved drug besides enforcing ban on the scented & flavored chewable tobacco. He also detailed that 5 court cases have been registered against the E- Cigarettes sellers. The Deputy Director, NCD, Dr. Rakesh K Gupta highlighted various key legislations, notifications and regulations dealing with tobacco and nicotine. He told that a month long ‘World No Tobacco Day’ campaign has been launched by Health and Family Welfare Minister, Brahm Mohindra from Mata Kaushalya Hospital Patiala on 2nd May 2017, by Flagging off the Publicity Van specially prepared for this purpose. This van is visiting major towns of all the districts of Punjab to create awareness among the people especially youth about the ill effects of tobacco through Posters, Audio and Video clips.Dr. Sonu Geol, Associate Professor, School of Public Health, PGIMER congratulated the State Tobacco Control cell for reduction in the prevalence of Tobacco use as per the NFHS 4 data. He suggested up scaling of tobacco cessation services as Punjab is lagging behind in this field. He suggested the use of NCD clinics for tobacco cessation services. A Proposal regarding the same have already been submitted to Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare. Prominent amongst others who attended the meeting included officials of Police, Finance, Excise and Taxation , School Education, Local Government, Transport, Rural Development, Labour, Food and Drug Administration, Food Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs Departments and representatives of NGOs.