Bengaluru, 27th August 2019: In the wake of rising number of children initiating tobacco use in Karnataka, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS), Bengaluru has launched ‘Pledge for Life – Tobacco Free Youth’ campaign in a workshop on Tobacco Control on 27th August 2019 in Dhanvanthri Hall. The workshop was organized by National Service Scheme (NSS) of RGUHS in collaboration with Sambandh Health Foundation (SHF) supported by Narayana Health City, Bengaluru.
The major focus of this workshop was to sensitize the NSS Program Officers and volunteers about the tobacco epidemic to prevent initiation of tobacco consumption among youth. NSS Program Officers and student volunteers from 100 colleges participated in the program. An action plan was developed for all colleges of RGUHS. Starting from making their own colleges tobacco free, other anti-tobacco activities such as pledge taking, street plays, poster & debate competitions etc. were also part of the action plan.
Dr. S. Sacchidan and, Vice Chancellor, RGUHS said, “Being a Health Sciences University, we are concerned about the health hazards due to tobacco use. Protecting our future generations from tobacco is very crucial and preventing tobacco initiation among youth is the key to counter this public health threat. Youth must be actively participating in anti-tobacco activities.
In Karnataka, there are more than 2500 NSS Units with 3.7 lac volunteers. This campaign will cover all Universities of Karnataka with goal of reducing the tobacco prevalence.
Dr Vivek Shetty, Cancer Surgeon of Narayana Health City, Bengaluru and a patron of the Voice of Tobacco Victims (VoTV) says, “Youth has a lot of energy and it must be channelized in the right direction. We can have a healthy society if our youngsters do not fall prey to products such as tobacco, which cause only death and disability. 90% of oral cancers are due to tobacco consumption”. He further added that NSS can contribute significantly in preventing the youth from tobacco use. About 293 children initiate tobacco use everyday in Karnataka with 56000 deaths every year. Unfortunately, more than 50% of oral cancer patients who undergo surgery do not survive beyond a year.
During the program, teachers and students also took an anti-tobacco pledge that they will never touch tobacco in 
their lives and will encourage their family and friends not to do so. As per the 2017 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS),1.03 crore people use tobacco in Karnataka. 90% of the users initiate tobacco use in their teens.
Speaking at the Workshop, Dr. Vasantha B. Shetty, NSS Program Coordinator, RGHUS, said, “We have 175 NSS Units with 17,000 volunteers in RGHUS. The workshop has really guided us about the action plan against this public health issue. NSS can significantly contribute to this. An evil which kills 56,000 people every year in Karnataka, we must work to get rid of it. Anti-tobacco activities such as pledge for life, drawing & debate competitions, etc will also bring about positive social behaviour change in youngsters.”
‘Pledge for life’ campaign is rolling with NSS in many other states in India to curb tobacco usages among youth. NSS has total volunteers in all over India who will be leading the campaign to fight against tobacco epidemic.
