Say no to Tobacco: Workshop for stakeholders held in Meghalaya's West Khasi Hills

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NONGSTOIN:

Capacity building workshop for officials of stakeholder departments for effective coordination and enforcement of Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Prevention Act (COTPA) was held at Bishop Hall, Nongstoin in West Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya on February 4.

The programme was organised by North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health & Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) and District Tobacco Cell, West Khasi Hills, in collaboration with PGIMER, Chandigarh, International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases and the Bloomberg Initiative.

The workshop cum Training was attended by Superintendent of Police West Khasi Hills, HG Lyngdoh, school teachers, headmen, NGOs, Police officials among others.

West Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner T. Lyngwa said, “It is time to wake up and realise the ill effects of tobacco that enslaved tobacco users with different diseases”.

He informed that the District Administration has successfully banned smoking in buses in the past years. "Coordination of the public will be helpful to stop the menace," he added.

He, therefore, urged upon all the stakeholders, the police, the transport department, food and safety, education department, the headmen, Sordar, NGOs to spread the message that tobacco harms not only the users but even to people around them.

While Dr Lana E Lyngdoh, who is the State Nodal Officer of National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP), Meghalaya, highlighted that the aim and objectives of the workshop is to stop the menace of smoking in public places and sales of tobacco to minors.

(Edited by Laxmi Chyrmang)