Diphupar Naga Students’ Union (DNSU) organized a seminar on tobacco awareness on September 28 at Agri Expo 4th mile with the theme, “tobacco; an agent of mass destruction”.
Speaking as the resource person, nodal officer, National Tobacco Control Program (NTCP) Dr. C .Tetseo presented that 63 lakhs of death cases were attributed to tobacco consumption.
He stressed on the importance of spreading awareness about the destructive role of Tobacco as Nagaland ranks second in the list of highest tobacco users in India with a whopping 57% of Nagaland population consuming tobacco. He called upon the schools and colleges to implement the ‘Tobacco Free Zone’ in their respective institution and described the alarming scenario of tobacco consumption as epidemic.
MD community medicine (CIHSR), Dr. Rohan Ramesh, deliberated on the topic “community program for anti- tobacco”, wherein he attributed the increasing use of tobacco among the youngster to the psychological factors such as stress and anxiety.
He presented the data that was collected during the survey conducted around Diphupar and informed the gathering that there were 182 shops selling tobacco in Diphupar alone, which was a massive number in relation to the size of the area .
He called upon the churches to play an active role in controlling the growing menace and also challenged the gathering to stop consuming tobacco.
Neivinuo Dzuvichu was the compere for the program, Vinika Yepthomi Winner of Voice of Nagaland 2015 and Thepfusanuo Belho enthralled the audience with their special numbers while the students of the Nursing college (CIHSR) performed a drama with a powerful message on ill effect of tobacco consumption. Branch Manager ,Yes Bank Dimapur, Poluto Swu also gave a short address on the occasion .
The winner of the essay writing competition that was held in various schools and colleges within Diphupar as a prelude to the seminar were awarded with a cash prize of Rs. 5000 (1st prize) and Rs. 3000 (2nd prize) . The competition was held in two different categories.
The seminar was hosted by DNSU in collaboration with NTCP and the YES BANK Dimapur as the co-sponsors.