Kohima: All schools in Nagaland will be declared tobacco-free by May 1, announced Kikheto Sema, Commissioner and Secretary of Health and Family Welfare, on Friday.
This will include all government and private schools in the state, Sema announced during the launching of the ‘Tobacco Free School to Tobacco Free Home Campaign’ at Little Flower Higher Secondary School in Kohima.
At present, he said that 356 schools are tobacco-free schools in Nagaland out of a total of about 2,684 schools in Nagaland.
Addressing the gathering, he said that Nagaland records 43% of children between the ages of 13-15 years as tobacco users. This rate, he noted, was alarming. He informed that the state has also registered 700 new cancer cases in hospitals.
Tobacco, he said, is the biggest cause of preventable deaths in the world which is responsible for 8.2 million deaths globally and 1.3 million deaths in India.
In the Northeast, he said that 49% of all cancer cases in men and 22% in women are attributed to tobacco use.
Earlier on April 4, all Private Hospitals and Health Institutions were declared as Tobacco Free Zone with effect from April 11, he said and added that the government intends to target all Government, public offices, and institutions as the next course of action.
Speaking about the tobacco-free home campaign, he said that when an educational institution becomes tobacco-free, the students, teachers and staff, have the required knowledge to create awareness in their homes.
As he addressed the students at the all-girl school, he said that women have the ability to motivate parents and siblings about the ill effects of tobacco use.
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If every student in the tobacco-free school takes part in this campaign, he said that there is huge potential to transform into thousands of homes in the state.
As many as 24 certificates for declaration of ‘Tobacco-Free Homes’ were distributed to the parents and students during the event.
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