At Goalkanon village in Shailokupa district in Bangladesh 200 people quit smoking. In that area local citizen built a social movement against tobacco by their own interest. The citizens (basically the youth) make a group to make their village an idol village for free of every kinds of addiction. The youth are going door to door and requesting people not to smoke. They launch a slogan for the movement “we are begging you not to smoke; the identification of a smoker is the big brother of the devil.” the local female are also get involve in that movement. There is no involvement of any NGO and other organization in it. The main initiative was taken by Mr. Hasanuzzaman, Principal of Golak Nagar Reg. private primary school. Before the movement there was smoker in number of 500 and now it reduce into 300.     

I have the honor and the pleasure to be part of the Global Youth Meeting , held in Mumbai 2009 . It was amazing to be all together fight against Smoking Hazards, we have been speaking the same language , a youths from over 85 Countries was togethers send a message to all Tobacco Industry that the new generation are here, and we will fight against Tobacco Company forever, thanks aggain for Salam Bambai Organization for theri efforts to make our stay in Mumbai so Confortable. See you all in Singapore 2012

A human chain was organized to end of tobacco cultivation in environmentally-sensitive areas such as hill tracts. The demand was made by the Bangladesh Anti-Tobacco Alliance and Pratyasha. The human chain took place at Shahbagh, Dhaka in front of the National Museum on 21 March 2009 at 11 a.m.

Speakers at the human chain said, tobacco is not only harmful for health, but also for environment, economy and society. The result of growing tobacco is land shortage for food crop cultivation. Trees are been cutting down for drying tobacco leaf. In the hill tracts, more and more forest are destroying each year and land are using for tobacco cultivation.

Organizers demanded that tobacco cultivation have to be stopped in environmentally-sensitive areas such as the hill tracts, deforestation have to be stopped for making land and drying tobacco. They also demanded that farmers should be motivated for growing alternative food crops than tobacco.

Arriving in Lagos, Nigeria after the GYM 2009 and 14th WCTOH, my mom was already at the airport. We boarded a taxi and started all the gists you know. The taxi driver was kind of curious when he found out that ‘I went to India because of Tobacco Control’.

Apparently, he is a smoker (though he never confessed to me) and he has never seen tobacco issue as a serious global issue. I explained to him that tobacco smoking is one of the highest causes of deaths all over the world.

It’s a product that kills you even when used as directed.

Realizing that his health is in danger, the next words that came out of his lips were ‘How can one quit smoking?’

This words reminds me of what the gatekeepers asked Peter and Paul after hearing the gospel, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do to be saved’?

Thought, there was very little time left, I tried to explain to him the addiction problem and concluded by referring him to see his doctor.

I hope he finds the courage to quit.

This experience has taught me so much.  I have met people from all over the globe who have done so much, and I am so glad that I have the opportunity to borrow and individualize all of the ideas I have seen presented at this conference.  Not only myself, but my county, USA, and my state will benefit from all of the wonderful people I have come across. I look forward to keeping intouch with all of you in the future!

HI everyone, can’t wait to get started bringing work on the FCTC to the U.S.

Team RC USA is thoroughly enjoying our time at the conference.  Everyone has been so welcoming.

The tobacco control law which came into force one year after its adoption strictly prohibits tobacco advertisement in all forms; it also prohibits sale of tobacco to and by minors, sale of cigarettes singly or in a package containing less than 20 to enable easy purchase and smoking. The law also states that it is an offence to produce, distribute or sell cigarette and other smoking tobacco products without a health warning in Myanmar language.

Despite regulations banning smoking at public places, education and health facilities and public transport, exposure to second hand smoke is still high both at home and in public places. Strengthening of existing legislation on smoke-free environments is strongly recommended to reduce hazards of exposure to second-hand smoke.

Currently, the national tobacco control programme is working in collaboration with school and youth health programme; hazards of tobacco has been incorporated into the school curriculum since 2002 and updated in 2007.

National Strategic Plan on Adolescent Health and Development (2009-2013) including Tobacco Free Youth Program  has been developed.

Specifically focused and youth targeted media campaigns and other anti-tobacco programs in schools can be effective measures for curbing the youth tobacco use in Myanmar. 

Myanmar, like other Member Countries of the Region is a fertile ground for the tobacco habit and a possible scene of tobacco-related morbidity and mortality explosions by the turn of the century. With the opening of the market economy, multinational tobacco companies came to invest in the country in the 1990s. New cigarette brands were introduced through vast investments on advertisement; hundreds of cigarette advertising billboards were erected in major cities and gradually expanded to rural areas. The cigarettes were sold at relatively cheaper prices than imported cigarettes and the “foreign” brands with colourful pictures attracted many customers. 

According to Myanmar Global Youth Tobacco Surveys (2001/2004/2007), Prevalence of tobacco use among the 8^th, 9^th and 10^th graders of Myanmar students was relatively high. Myanmar Tobacco Control Programme was launched in 2000 and had increased momentum on promotion of community awareness on dangers of tobacco ; measures had also been taken to prohibit cigarette advertisement from TV, radio , billboards, newspapers and all printed articles; but the students were still reporting of seeing pro-ads on billboards, TV , newspapers and magazines. Tobacco Industry has changed its advertising techniques by using indirect advertisements and producing millions of stickers to be seen in many public places. Hence, the students were still exposed to pro-tobacco ads and get confused where they had seen them.

Tobacco -Free schools had been established since 2000 and over (80)% of basic education schools had declared themselves to be tobacco-free.

 “Control of Smoking and Consumption of Tobacco Product Law” was enacted in May, 2006. Came into effect in May, 2007. Between 2001 and 2007, a significant reduction in the proportion of students currently smoked cigarettes is observed (a fall from overall prevalence among 13-15 year olds of 10.2% to 4.9%) but reported use of other tobacco products had increased during the period from 5.7% to 14.1%. The ability to purchase cigarettes in a store had reduced significantly from 72.9% to 23.7%; percent who have been offered “free “cigarettes by a tobacco company had also reduced significantly from 17.1% to 8.7%. There is no change in percent of students receiving education on dangers of tobacco. The GYTS 2007 has shown that  exposure to second-hand smoke still remains high both at home and in public places. Students are still exposed to cigarette advertisement. Enforcement of the national legislation on tobacco control needs to be strengthened, and the National Tobacco Control Program needs to be more comprehensive incorporating measures to reduce smokeless tobacco use and other non-cigarette tobacco products.

Therefore there is an urgent need to promote the tobacco prevention and control program through school-based approach.

Strengthening of tobacco free school programme may be one efficient  strategy to promote sustainable prevention and control of  tobacco among youths.

Smoking one pack of cigarettes a day,
Takes from your life a few years away!

Cigarette smoking is a nusiance,
Give up smoking - with no repentance!

Do not let tobacco destroy YOU,
But let tobacco be destroyed BY YOU!

Winners quit smoking,
And enjoy a healthy living!

When we can’t give the next generation,
A world free of pollution!

Lets’ tell them we do care,
And give them atleast homes with fresh air!

Shachi Saluja
DLDAV Model School
Pitampura
Delhi, India