Shun smoking, chewing tobacco: Chittoor ZP Chairperson Girvani

Chittoor: Zilla Parishad (ZP) Chairperson Girvani said on Thursday more than 60 per cent of BPL families are addicted to bad habits like smoking, chewing tobacco and consumption of alcohol. District Medical and Health department has organised a programme on the occasion of ‘World No Tobacco Day’ here.

Earlier, she flagged off a rally. Speaking on the occasion, she expressed her concern over youth in rural areas getting addicted to bad habits. She stressed on the need for creating awareness among illiterates and weaker sections of the society about the adverse consequences of smoking and chewing pan masalas.

The ZP chief directed the Medical and Health department to conduct awareness camps regularly for eradication of bad habits by explaining smoking and chewing tobacco leads to cancer and throat cancer respectively. She stated that the TD government has been allocating more funds for health sector.

District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO) Dr Vijay Gowri said instructions were given to all doctors of Primary Health Centres (PHCs) to conduct counselling for the patients once in a week about the ill-effects of smoking and chewing tobacco. DCH Dr Saralamma and other
officials were present.