SC bans sale of gutkha in plastic pouches from March

Dec. 7 (PTI) -- The Supreme Court today ordered a ban on
the sale of tobacco products like gutkha and pan masala in
plastic pouches from March 2011, while asking the government to
conduct a survey on the ill effects of these products within
eight weeks.
    A bench of justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly also asked
the manufacturers to explore and decide by March next year on
the alternative material for packaging them.
    The bench issued the directions while brushing aside the
pleas of some of the gutkha manufacturers who feared that such a
direction could lead to closure of thousands of gutkha and pan
masala manufacturing units.
    "Let it come," the bench quipped when counsel for one of
the manufacturers claimed that the whole industry would come to
a standstill.
    Cigarettes, which are generally sold in paper packs, are
out of the ambit of this ban.
    While asking the government to conduct a survey on the ill
effects of these tobacco products, the bench also asked it to
examine the effects of packaging these products in plastics
pouches over human health.
    The bench recorded an undertaking from Solicitor General
Gopal Subramanium that the government would get the required
survey done by the National Institute of Public Health on the
harmful effects of gutkha, pan masala and other tobacco products
and also the adverse effects, if any, of the plastic pouches
used for packaging the material.
    The bench also directed the Centre to finalise and enforce
withing eight weeks the Plastic Management and Disposal Rules
2009.
    It rued that despite the rules having been framed in 2009,
the authorities are yet to enforce them.
    The bench passed the direction while adjudicating a
petition by a civil society, which has approached the apex court
challenging the alleged unbridled sale of gutkha and pan masala
material in the country, seriously impinging upon public health.

The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Packaging & Labeling) (Amendment) Rules 2010

The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Packaging & Labeling) (Amendment) Rules 2010 or COTPA in short is an act passed by the Gonernment of India and please follow the link to read
The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Packaging & Labeling) (Amendment) Rules 2010

report of Global Adult Tobacco Survey India 2010

Following are the highlights of the GATS India findings:
· Current tobacco use in any form: 34.6% of adults; 47.9% of males and 20.3% of females
· Current tobacco smokers: 14.0% of adults: 24.3% of males and 2.9% of females
· Current cigarette smokers: 5.7% of adults: 10.3% of males and 0.8% of females.
· Current bidi smokers: 9.2% of adults: 16.0% of males and 1.9% of females.
· Current users of smokeless tobacco: 25.9% of adults: 32.9% of males and 18.4% of females.
· Among daily tobacco users, 60.2% consumed tobacco within half an hour of waking up
· Average age at initiation of tobacco use was 17.8 with 25.8% of females starting tobacco use before the age of 15
· Among minors (age 15-17), 9.6% consumed tobacco in some form and most of them were able to purchase tobacco products.
· Five in ten current smokers (46.6%) and users of smokeless tobacco (45.2%) planned to quit or at lease thought of quitting
· Among smokers and users of smokeless tobacco who visited a health care provider, 46.3% of smokers and 26.7% of users of smokeless tobacco were advised to quit by a health care provider
· About five in ten adults (52.3%) were exposed to second-hand smoke at home and 29.0% at public places(mainly in public transport and restaurants)
· About two in three adults (64.5%) noticed advertisement or promotion of tobacco products.
· Three in five current tobacco users (61.1%) noticed the health warning on tobacco packages and one in three current tobacco users (31.5%) thought of quitting tobacco because of the warning label.

Global Adult Tobacco Survey 2000

Global Adult Tobacco Survey of GATS published a result of the survey in 2000.
Follow the link to know more http://www.searo.who.int/LinkFiles/Regional_Tobacco_Surveillance_System_Country_Profiles_india.pdf

Gyn.& Pedi.Camp Gholwad 3.10.2010

Free health camp of tribals at Gholwad

Sangeeta Darvekar Charitable trust had arranged a free gynecology and pediatric camp for the tribals of gholwad region, Taluka Dahanu, Dist Thane, Maharashtra, India.
Following are the photos of the camp. Have a look
http://picasaweb.google.com/sndarvekar/GynPediCampGholwad3102010?feat=directlink

Do I have mouth cancer, wants to get checked up

Do I have mouth cancer, wants to get checked up

Question

Dear Sir,

                   My name is Raghvendra Upadhyay, age 28, resident of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. I am writing you inquring about process and costing for a mouth cancer check up. I used to chew guthka, smoked cigarettes but don't do such things any more. Neither I have any problem eating spicy food nor have any problem in opening my mouth but I have lost two of my friends because of mouth cancer within past year which made me think about it. I read some books and your website about mouth cancer and they all said that primary indication of mouth cancer is having a lump in the mouth and it can be treated if diagnosed in early stage. I do not know if I have any lump in my mouth or not but I just want to get a checkup for mouth cancer at Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai. I do not want to go to BHU or any other hospital in my city because they do not care about the patients well and in fact I just don't believe them. Both of my friends who died of mouth cancer went to BHU first and they had really bad experience.
So please help me by giving some information about how my mouth can be diagnosed, how much would it cost and how long does it take to get the results?

Waiting for your reply,

Raghvendra Upadhyay
Varanasi-
Uttar Pradesh
India

Answer

Dear Raghvendra,
I would like to answer your queries one by one
1.    Cost of mouth cancer check up should not be too much, but might depend upon place to place. What I would suggest is get your mouth checked up from a good dentist locally for a lesion in the mouth. The rule of thumb is a non healing ulcer for more than 15days should make you rush for the check up, even if it is not painful. The doctors might inspect your mouth for a suspicious lesion and if needed do some tests before arriving at a final diagnosis.
2.    Since you don’t have problem in eating spicy food and not problem in opening your mouth it seems you don’t have any problem of oral cancer, but friend I haven’t examined your mouth, so if in case you want to be sure, get yourself checked.
3.    Friend, if your friends had bad experience, doesn’t mean that the Hospital is bad. BHU is a hospital which is serving a large population and has a large OPD. The doctors are overworked and therefore they tend to be a little irritated but they are also equally good. Same is the condition in Tata Memorial Hospital. This tobacco habit is causing cancer in epidemic proportions in India, and the doctors and staff are really stretched to the limit. We need understanding individuals who spread the awareness about tobacco habit and mouth cancer so that this cancer can be prevented and the load on this hospital can be reduced.
4.    It is very unfortunate that your friends have died and you have suddenly realized the magnanimity of the problem. But unfortunately we don’t spread our knowledge and don’t speak against the habits. Are you ready to start a crusade in your town, your village where in every individual is counseled regarding the evil of this supposedly simple habit. Would you open your mouth or let many more deaths happen around you.
5.    Regarding results of tests done for checking for cancer don’t take too long; 4 to 5 days should be more than enough to get all the reports.
I have tried to explain almost all your queries, if anything more feel free to write to me.

Dr Suwas Darvekar
Write a review of our website on http://greatnonprofits.org/reviews/sangeeta-darvekar-charitable-trust1/

Beware! Smoking can upset your genes

Washington, July 14 (IANS) Scientists have found that exposure to cigarette smoke not only upsets gene expression - the process by which genetic information is converted into the structures and functions of a cell - but their entire networks as well.

These alterations seem to have a wide-ranging negative influence on the immune system, including processes bearing on cancer, cell death and metabolism.

Scientists of Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research at San Antonio in the US, identified 323 unique genes whose expression levels were significantly correlated with smoking behaviour in their study of 1,240 volunteers.

The changes were detected by studying the activity of genes within white blood cells of volunteers, the BMC Medical Genomics journal reports.

'Our results indicate that not only individual genes, but entire networks of gene interaction are influenced by cigarette smoking,' said Jac Charlesworth, who led the study, according to a university release.

Charlesworth, formerly at Southwest Foundation, is now a research fellow at the Menzies Research Institute at the University of Tasmania in Australia.

The study is part of Southwest Foundation's San Antonio Family Heart Study which includes 40 families in the Mexican-American community.

'Previous studies of gene expression as influenced by smoking have been seriously limited in size, with the largest of the studies including only 42 smokers and 43 non-smokers. We studied 1,240 individuals, including 297 current smokers,' Charlesworth said.

'The findings have a larger implications for human disease risk, especially in relation to the increased risk of a wide variety of cancers throughout the body as a result of cigarette smoke exposure,' Charlesworth said.

India ranks first in oral cancer cases: Study.

Itanagar, Jan. 11 -- India has the highest number of oral cancer cases in the world out of which 90 per cent were due to tobacco-related diseases, according to






a World Health
Organisation (WHO) survey report.

The report said more than 2,200 Indians die each day from a tobacco-related cases and in 2010, an estimated ten lakh





people will die due to the killer disease. Every day, 55,000
Indian youths start tobacco use, the report further said.

In view of the growing tobacco menace, a one-day Media Advocacy Workshop on Tobacco Control was jointly organised by Itanagar Press Club (IPC) and Voluntary Health Association
of India (VHAI) here recently.

In the meeting both the print and electronic media unanimously observed that strict enforcement of section 4four of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003, should be ensured.

Highlighting different aspects of tobacco in terms of health hazards and socio-economic impact, epidemiologist Dr L Jampa informed that India is the second largest consumer and is placed third in respect of tobacco production.

He informed that in 17 out of 29 states of India, tobacco use is more than 69 per cent. The Northeastern region exhibits highest rates of tobacco use - in Mizoram more than 80 per cent of men use some form of tobacco, followed by Tripura (76 per cent) and Assam (72). Arunachal Pradesh is the second largest state whose people chew tobacco products after
Mizoram.

read more here http://www.thefreelibrary.com/India+ranks+first+in+oral+cancer+cases:+Study.-a0216451622

a few slogans on tobacco habit and oral cancer

तंबाखु का व्यसन ना सिर्फ आपके पैसे खाता है,

यह आपका जीवन भी खाता है .

तंबाखु का व्यसन छोडीए,

दर्दनाक मौत से बचिए.

जिस मुँह से प्रभु का नाम लेते हो ,

उसी को तंबखु से धोते हो.

गुटका तुमने खाया क्या,

मौत को जल्दी बुलाया क्या !!

गुटका खाओ ,

जल्द मर जाओ.

तंबाखु से आती है नपुंसकता और कमजोरी,

नहीं कर सकोगे अपने बीवी की इच्छा पूरी.

आपके तंबाखु के व्यसन के वजह से कितने घर चलते है,

नुक्कड़ के पानवाले का घर, तंबाखु के उत्पादक का घर, कई एजंटों का घर,

और तंबाखु के किसान का घर,

लेकिन आपका घर उजड जायेगा उसका क्या !!!!

तंबाखु की मज़ा

मौत की सज़ा........

ज़रा सोचो

कौन किसे खा रहा है,

आप तंबाखु को या तंबाखु आप को.......