Bhubaneswar: A team of Good Samaritans from the state recently conducted an anti-tobacco campaign at several places in Sikkim starting with Tsomgo Lake by highlighting the fact that 2,500 people fall prey to cancer daily due to tobacco consumption in India and a massive campaign is needed to curb the menace.
“Our fight is to curb cancer and tobacco menace in India,” head of ‘Mission Answer to Cancer’, Md Imran Ali, told Orissa POST.
“We organised the campaign at nine places in Sikkim spreading awareness about mouth cancer,” he said.
Revealing his experience during the return journey by New Tinsukia Express, Imran said, “The train was overcrowded as many youths migrate to Bangalore for jobs. On May 12, between New Jalpaiguri and Bhubaneswar stations, we observed that most of the working class youths were chewing tobacco continuously. We held discussions with them and counselled them to give up tobacco products.”
Most of the youths were having pre-oral cancer symptoms with white patches in the mouths. A few of them promised to give up the habit, said Imran.
He also said that India has become the capital of mouth cancer and there is need for massive awareness campaign to save the lives of many youths.
Apart from Imran, Anuj Kumar Das, Smruti Ranjan Sahoo and Suhana Begum were also part of the mission.
