Financial Commissioner, Health and Medical Education, Atal Dulloo on Friday said tobacco consumption has decreased by two percent in Jammu and Kashmir in the recent past.
“As far as our State is concerned the rate ofconsumption of cigarettes or any kind of tobacco has declined by 2 to 3 percentin recent years but that is not the achievement till it reaches to zeropercent,” he said, as per an official handout.
He was speaking at the State Level Inception cumsensitization workshop for stakeholders on effective implementation of COTPA,2003. The workshop was organised by the Directorate of Health Services Kashmir.
During the workshop, Director Health Kashmir, Dr.Kunzes Dolma also highlighted the importance of awareness and sensitizationprogrammes to educate people about bad effects of tobacco or cigarettes onhealth.
Underscoring the need for a complete ban on the useof tobacco and its allied products in the State, Commissioner, Food Safety, VinodSharma sought overwhelming support of the society to deal with the menace.
Various other speakers deliberated on the subjectand threw light on the ill effects of tobacco on human health. They soughtstrict implementation of the ban on tobacco and other related products.