Ban on smoking in public has been effective: NGOs

While it may be too early to quantify it, the ban on smoking in public places is definitely working, claimed NGOs at the Global Youth Meet on Tobacco Control (GYM, 2009), on Friday.

Over 160 youths from 28 countries, and seven states across India, participated in the meet to deliberate on tobacco control. Mumbai will host the 14th World Conference on Tobacco or Health from Sunday.

“A considerable drop in the number of times people smoked daily has been noticed post-October 2008, when the ban was enforced. However, it is too early to come up with concrete figures,” said Monika Arora, director, Health Related Information Dissemination Amongst Youth (HRIDAY).

“We want to empower ourselves with key leadership and advocacy skills,” said student Sasha Bhatnagar, who gave a presentation on the youth perspective on tobacco control.