10 slums to be declared smoke-free by month-end

CHENNAI: Ten slum colonies in the city, including the one at Ambedkar Nagar, will be declared smoke free by the year-end.Prasanna Kannan, WHO consultant, speaking to Express, said, “Incidence of tobacco consumption in slums have been found to be high. So the State Tobacco Control Cell has decided to educate the slum residents on awareness about the ill-effects of tobacco consumption. As per the Global Adult Tobacco Survey 2010, the most affected age group in terms of tobacco consumption is 13 to 25 years. So each educational institution in this particular area will be made smoke-free.“After these slums, intervention programmes will be carried out in the rest of the slum population in the city,” she said.The National Family Health Survey of 2003 showed that 57 per cent males and 10.9 per cent females consumed tobacco in some form or the other. As per statistics, tobacco killed 8-9 lakh persons each year in India.The slums of Korrukupet, Old Washermanpet, Vyasarpadi, Aynavaram, Aminjikarai, Marina, Egmore, Vadapalani, Saidapet and Santhome would be made smoke-free by May 31.