The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Dental association's plea against use of tobacco

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 30, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Dental association's plea against use of tobacco

Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD: The State branch of Indian Dental Association (IDA) has appealed to people and the Government to work for the total eradication of tobacco use.

In an appeal on the eve of World No Tobacco Day on May 31, O. Nageswara Rao, president, and K. Krishna Prasad, secretary, said the Government's legal efforts to discourage tobacco use were proving to be `futile', as in the case of Maharashtra Government.

"Though the Government is sincere in its ideology, it failed to present the case more scientifically, missing the very important and harmful ingredient in the product, magnesium carbonate, which make a person chewing gutkha an addict."

Implement ban

They urged the Government to act firmly on the idea of implementing the ban strictly and sealing all legal opportunities to the manufacturers. The dental professionals, they pointed out, were worried by diagnosing carcinoma, a most common form of cancer in patients at the age of 30 years, because of chewing tobacco and pan.

Awareness camp

The association and the staff of Gandhi Hospital would jointly conduct an awareness camp on May 31 at 10 a.m. on the hazards of use of tobacco. The Civil Supplies Minister, G. Vijayarama Rao, will inaugurate the camp.

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