Report on CAS Activity – “Preventing Premature Death due to Tobacco (Say No to the CANCER STICK)”, Phase 1
On 8th January 2010, the inauguration of the Service activity ‘Preventing Premature Death (Anti-Tobacco Awareness)’, under the aegis of International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme’s CAS (Creativity, Action, Service), was conducted at Dr. Pillai Global Academy, New Panvel.

Dr. Dharav Shah, Lecturer in psychiatry at BJ Medical College, Pune, inaugurated the anti-tobacco awareness programme by delivering an engaging and powerful talk on the topic of ‘Preventing Premature Death due to Tobacco’.
Dr. Lata Krishnan, Associate Director, Dr. Pillai Global Academy, New Panvel, welcomed, introduced and spoke about Dr. Shah to the audience.

Dr. Shah initially stressed on the ill-effects of tobacco, health-wise and in social context, using very compelling evidence and arguments. Tobacco is the single largest cause of preventable premature deaths in India, i.e. of people dying young from health issues that could have been prevented. Smoking alone causes 900,000 deaths a year in India. Tobacco addicts will eventually become impotent, lose stamina, manifest physical characteristics that make them unattractive, and spend a considerable amount of money on it, in their short lifetime.

He further went on to describe the ways in which it affects the quality of life we enjoy – family members subjected to passive smoke are harmed, pregnant women and the fetuses get irreparably harmed, and tobacco use has been found to cause poor academic performance, low aspirations, and early school dropouts.

He explained that happiness should be gained in constructive ways such as success, meditation and entertainment, and not through tobacco. An interesting fact he used to argue his case was that goats, donkeys and cows never need to be told that tobacco is not good for grazing, they avoid it on their own. Besides, most of our role models today are non-smokers, or people who have happily quit the habit.

Dr. Shah also criticized Gutkha companies and greedy celebrities for luring children into the world of tobacco poisoning using colourful, affordable packets, and TV ads.

He concluded his informative and interesting talk with the identification of the root of the issue – that smoking and tobacco use are ‘socially acceptable’ today, and proposed a set of guidelines that tobacco users, their friends, society and government should adopt so that tobacco use becomes socially unacceptable, and thus easier to quit.

The next phase of the ‘Preventing Premature Death’ awareness campaign will span the next couple of months, with the IBDP students spreading awareness in society about these facts. The students will also specifically visit schools and colleges, where the issue has been found to take its initial forms, and spread awareness among the children, adolescents, and young people effectively, about why tobacco is not ‘cool’, and can cause premature death.

Ms. Bandana Basu, IBDP Coordinator proposed the vote of thanks and indicated our special gratitude to Dr. Dharav Shah, at an event conducted by the IBDP students and Mrs. Beena Thambi, the CAS Coordinator, Dr. Pillai Global Academy, New Panvel.