Cancer victim writes to PM for ban on tobacco products
June 1st, 2011 - 8:41 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, June 1 (IANS) A 35-year-old cancer victim has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pleading with him to impose a ban on tobacco products such as gutka and cigarette.
Rahul Bhardwaj, working with a private company, said in his letter sent Tuesday: “My life changed four months back when I was diagnosed with an advanced stage of mouth cancer that the doctors say is a result of my habit of gutka/pan masala chewing….”
Bhardwaj described his on-going agonising fight with cancer and how he was unable to eat or drink due to the ailment.
“I have sent a copy of the letter to the health minster and chairman of the human rights commission. I have gone through the trauma of seeing death from close quarters, and know how harmful the addictive product is,” Bhardwaj said.
According to a 2009 study by the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), India has nearly 274.9 million tobacco users - around 35 percent of the population.
“I represent the millions of youth in India. Why do we continue to allow this industry a legal status? Is it justifiable to allow killing of one million Indians every year for earning a few thousand crores (of rupees),” wrote Bhardwaj.
“I plead (with) the prime minister of this country to impose a ban on gutka, cigarette and pan masala,” said Bhardwaj who is currently undergoing chemotherapy in a Delhi-based hospital.
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- Inadequate, say health activists of new anti-tobacco warnings - Jun 01, 2011
- Punjab bans gutka, pan masala - Aug 27, 2012
- Jharkhand bans sale, manufacturing of gutka - Jul 24, 2012
- Law on anti-tobacco warnings ignored in two states: Study - Feb 16, 2012
- No smoking: Gory pictures pull in, shock trade fair visitors - Nov 18, 2010
- Maharashtra among top tobacco consumers in India - Jun 15, 2012
- Uttarakhand is biggest tobacco consumer in north: Survey - Jul 21, 2012
- Tobacco causing 50 percent head, neck cancers: Study - Aug 21, 2011
- No sale of gutka, pan masala in pouches from March 2011 - Dec 07, 2010
- We Need A Lifetime Of No Tobacco, And Not Merely A Day - May 28, 2010
- Delhi to host national consultation on smokeless tobacco - Mar 29, 2011
- Plastic gutka sachets banned, really? - Mar 06, 2011
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