Srinagar, October 5th: Director of Health Kashmir, Dr. Mushtaq Ahmad Rather, said on Thursday that the health department in Kashmir has collected penalties of more than 1.5 lakh rupees from offenders in 2023 in an attempt to curtail the issue of tobacco smoking in public areas.
Speaking to media representatives on the sidelines of a one-day media sensitization workshop for the national tobacco control programme, he emphasised the critical need for public support in achieving this goal and stated that the push for a tobacco-free environment is not only a matter of law but also a public health imperative.
Dr. Mushtaq Ahmad Rather emphasised the importance of public support in the fight against cigarette usage. He emphasised that without the active participation of the people, no programme or effort to address any problem can genuinely be successful. Positively, a significant share of the penalties collected is evidence of people’s desire to follow tobacco control laws.
Dr. Rather also emphasised that smoking is a problem in homes as much as in public settings. Children and elderly family members may suffer negative impacts from smoking in residential areas. According to a recent survey done in conjunction with the Social Welfare Department, 50,000 out of 70,000 people were discovered to be intravenous drug users. He quoted this data.
Alarming results showed that many of these drug users, including kids, had a history of smoking. Dr. Rather emphasised the connection between drug misuse and smoking, calling for a holistic strategy to treat both problems.
He said that additional treatment facilities (ATF) centres had been constructed in each district of the valley to address the growing concern about drug misuse, especially among young people. According to him, these facilities work to provide individuals in need with the help and intervention they need, using a holistic strategy to combat addiction and advance better lives. (KNS).
