Team Herald
PANJIM: State Health Department has joined hands with Cipla Health to make Goa “tobacco free State”.
In the first phase, Bicholim and Colva will be taken up to achieve the target.
In a press statement issued here, Cipla Health has said that a study undertaken by them and the Directorate of Health Service (DHS) indicates that nearly 40 per cent of adults in Goa are regular users of some form of tobacco-based product.
“Tobacco consumption in different forms starts at a young age either through peer-influence (12 per cent) or peer-pressure (9 per cent). There is a significant increase in the number of regular users of tobacco in Goa,” it added.
The “Mission Tobacco Free Goa” is designed to systematically foster a reduction of tobacco consumption in any form and thereby eliminate health hazards arising from it. Apart from tackling health issues, the programme is also aimed at reducing the economic burden resulting from tobacco related morbidities.
In its first phase, “Mission Tobacco Free Goa” will be conducting targeted interventions in Bicholim Taluka and the Colva Beach area.
