New Delhi: Every year 31st May marks ‘World No Tobacco Day ‘which is observed to spread awareness among the people of the risk associated with the use of Tobacco. This day raises awareness among people about the health issues related to the consumption of Tobacco.
Each year World Health Organization promotes No Tobacco Day to spread awareness and encourage governments and individuals to opt for policies that will reduce the consumption of tobacco. Every year approximately 8 million people die from the consumption of tobacco according to WHO data. Whenever you smoke tobacco, it reduces the capacity of your lungs and they become prone to many respiratory diseases. One should contribute to reducing the consumption of Tobacco in order to protect public health and create a healthy future.
The theme for World No Tobacco Day this year is “We need food, not Tobacco”. It is the campaign that started for spreading awareness to tobacco farmers to cultivate an alternative crop to tobacco and giving them market opportunities to grow nutritious crops. It also aims to target tobacco industries to curtail the manufacturing of tobacco and substitute it with food crops contributing to the reduction of the global food crisis.
History of No Tobacco Day
A resolution was passed in 1987 by the World Health Organization in order to mark April 7 as ‘No Smoking Day’, so that people could drop smoking for at least 24 hours. One more resolution was passed by the organization to mark 31 May as ‘No Tobacco Day’. In order to encourage people to not smoke, WHO also banned the advertisement and promotion of Tobacco in 2008.
