Kerala governor to bat for tobacco control on campuses

IANS
08 Jan 2015, 01:30 GMT+10

Kerala Governor P. Sathasivam said Wednesday that tobacco control on campuses of higher learning would be made an item in the agenda of the Vice Chancellors' meet held every quarter.

The former chief justice of the Supreme Court Sathasivam said this while interacting with the activists of 'Tobacco Free Kerala' here.

"Every month, vice chancellors send reports to me on instances of sexual harassment, ragging and the like in campuses, and the action taken and steps planned for the future. Tobacco control measures in campuses, too, would be included in the monthly reports," said the governor.

The director of the Regional Cancer Centre Paul Sebastian, who led the activists briefed the governor about the extent of tobacco use in Kerala and the harm it causes.

He said that 21.4 percent of Kerala's population above 15 years of age use tobacco products in some form.

Around 50,000 new cancer cases are detected every year, of which more than 40 percent of male cancers are tobacco-induced.

The economic burden of tobacco use in Kerala is over Rs.1,500 crore a year.

A tobacco-induced oral cancer victim, 34-year-old fisherman K. Saju, recounted how he started smoking in his early 20s as a means to fight the chill while fishing.

"Gradually, I was drawn to smoking and I would smoke cigarettes in addition to using smokeless tobacco products. Tobacco use made me an oral cancer patient and changed the course of my life forever," Saju said.

Watch latest videos

News RELEASES

Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to India Gazette.

More Information

21 ℃

New Delhi

Business

Section

SpaceX plans to put 12,000 satellites in orbit approved

WASHINGTON, U.S. - In a bid to provide a major boost to cheap, wireless internet access, an ambitious plan devised ...

India to buy 24 Romeo Seahawk helicopters from the U.S.

NEW DELHI, India - In a bid to boost its Naval defences, India has decided to buy 24 anti-submarine choppers ...

U.K. tax authority faces high volume of fraud complaints

LONDON, U.K. - The U.K. tax authority has revealed that scammers notorious for carrying out large scale phishing attacks, have ...

Oracle's Thomas Kurian to replace Diane Greene at Google

CALIFORNIA, U.S. - After quitting his high-profile job at the world's second-largest software maker, Oracle's former Product Development president, Thomas ...

Future of iconic UK newspapers secured

EDINBURGH, Scotland, UK- A number of iconic newspapers in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland have been saved by a series of ...

String of scandals cost Zuckerberg $17 billion in losses

CALIFORNIA, U.S. - Hit by a string of scandals since the start of the year, shares of the world's largest ...

Delhi

Section

Movie Review

The Passion of Joan of Arc (La passion de Jeanne d'Arc) [Blu-Ray]

Passion of Joan of Arc

Featured story

Ireland's Keywords Studios acquires Canada's Snowed In

DUBLIN, Ireland - Following its successful acquisition of Hollywood-based Blindlight, Irish video-gaming company Keywords Studios has now announced its latest accomplishment. Keywords r ...