The school board of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), along with ‘Ekalavya Balshikshan va Arogya Nyas’ organization, has started a special school for the children of addicts and Devdasis.

"The school, which was inaugurated on Monday at Phad gate area in Shukravar Peth, has already enrolled 33 students. This is the first–ofits–kind municipal corporation–run school specially dedicated to the deprived classes,"said a press statement issued by the school board.

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The life story of Ravi Padhye, the director of Maitree de–addiction and rehabilitation centre, can be termed as a rag to riches story, albeit with a twist. The twist in the saying, which would fit Padhye would be ‘from addict to de–addiction expert’. After his successful treatment, at the city–based Muktangan de–addiction centre, Padhye is now running one of the very few de–addiction centres in Nagpur and was honoured by the state government in the first ever de–addiction literary meet held in Pune on Tuesday.

By his own admission, Padhye was an alcoholic for 12 years, which affected him in various ways. "Other than financial losses, I suffered physical, mental, emotional and spiritual losses also," he said. Padhye’s tryst with the bottle started at the age of 20 and he blames it on the wrong company. Padhye said that instead of trying to overcome the habit, he blamed his parents for his alcoholism.

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Bollywood films with smoking scenes will no longer be automatically rated U/A. However, anti–tobacco spots and an audio–visual disclaimer at the beginning of the film and during the interval will have to be played during the screening of such films, according to an agreement reached between the ministries of Health and Information and Broadcasting.

Failure to comply with this will result in cancellation of licence of the cinema hall owner and the film’s producer.

The Health Ministry on Friday issued a fresh notification on this, in a move that is widely perceived as a result of efforts by Bollywood producers who had been lobbying hard for the certification rule to be withdrawn.

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A copy of the notification in this regard was submitted before the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The government has banned production of bottled correction fluid and thinner for retail sale. A notification in this regard was issued on July 17 after the division bench of the high court directed the union health ministry to check the sale of these fluids, as they were being used by street children as intoxicants.

NGO Vyakti Vikas Kendra’s ‘Art of Living’ wing sought complete ban on the sale of typewriter correction fluid, on the grounds that the easily available holding that the same was being used for intoxication by slum children. A PIL in this regard was filed by chairman of the apex body of Punjab and Chandigarh branch of Vyakti vikas Kendra India, Ashok Khanna, prominent theatre personality Neelam Man Singh, Kiran Bedi, and NGO Yuvsatta through Parmod Sharma, Rakesh Sharma and other NGOs.

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The Washington Post recently called attention to a terrible but widespread phenomenon: the fact that "most doctors fail to identify or diagnose substance abuse." Moreover, even when addiction or substance abuse is recognized in a patient, physicians often have no idea what to do about it. Why? Because of the 985,375 practicing U.S. physicians, only 1,200 are trained in addiction medicine. This disconnect contributes greatly to the disturbing statistic that only ten percent of the millions who need substance abuse treatment actually receive it.

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For Sunder Lal, a 32-year-old auto driver who consumes 10-15 packets of gutka every day, the ban has come as a shocker. He says it is hard to kick the habit and he may have to fall back on products sold by black marketeers for a higher price. If that option is not available, he'd turn to cigarettes to satisfy the craving – a possibility feared by health experts.

Psychiatrists say intensive awareness campaigns, free counselling and medication must be provided to help addicts deal with withdrawal symptoms.

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The recent ‘Chillar’ party bust at Koregaon Park has yet again revealed the attraction of the city teenagers to various forms of addiction and parties. So much so that teens these days prefer staying in a hostel instead of their homes in order to ‘enjoy’ life to the fullest.

City counsellors pointed out various cases, revealing the psyche of these youths. "There is a rising trend among girls to have different boyfriends. I’ve been observing this underlying change from 2007. These girls belong to the upper middle class strata of society and their parents are educated," said counsellor advocate Supriya Kothari.

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Ten Indian states have banned a popular form of chewing tobacco in a major policy shift that may save millions of lives and strike a blow at the global tobacco industry, already reeling from new anti–smoking laws around the world. But an estimated 65 million Indians use "gutka" – a heady form of chewing tobacco made of crushed betel nut, nicotine and laced with thousands of chemicals – and furious manufacturers are fighting to have the bans overturned.

Companies such as Delhi–based DS Group are dragging states to courts, complaining that the billion–dollar industry should be regulated as tobacco and not as food and that the bans threaten the livelihoods of millions of farmers and street vendors scattered from Bangalore to New Delhi.

"Nobody understands the bigger picture. What will happen to those poor farmers? No one thinks of them," said a company official on condition of anonymity. No company Reuters consulted would speak on record.

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(CNN) –– Health officials around the world hailed the decision by Australia's high court, which stubbed out claims by tobacco companies that the packaging of cigarettes without branding was unconstitutional.

The Australian decision raises the hopes of anti–tobacco forces of similar moves in other nations. "We are elated with this victory," said Bungon Ritthiphakdee, director of the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance. "We also draw inspiration from the Australian government for standing up against the challenges from the tobacco industry and all its artillery for trying to block this move –– and winning. This win for Australia prepares the path for the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)."

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PUNE: Consuming chewing tobacco alone may not be very harmful for people. Only when blended with the other substances like slick lime and betel nut, chewing tobacco becomes harmful and causes oral cancer, a top US–based expert in oral cancer said here on Sunday.

"If you are just chewing tobacco, the likelihood of getting affected by oral cancer is lesser, when compared to its consumption with the several additives that makes it lethal. It is important that the treatment procedures and government policies take care of this aspect," Dr Diane Stern told Sakal Times. Dr Stern is the Professor, department of diagnostic sciences, Nova Southeast University School of Dental Medicine, Florida, USA.

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‘Govt’s Move Will Help Many Boys Like Us’

Mumbai: Roshan Wankhede (18) would have passed his HSC exams this year, but for a medical problem. He had to undergo surgery for removal of nearly half of his upper jaw. Roshan has been suffering from last–stage mouth cancer for over a year.

Roshan was 13 years old when he started consuming tobacco because of peer pressure. A sachet or two occasionally soon turned to seven to eight sachets a day. "I wanted to do what all my friends did. Of the 50 students in our class, 10 used to consume paan masala. It was all for fun, " said the Amravati resident. "My parents didn’t know that I had this habit, " he said.

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Mumbai: An analysis of smokeless tobacco such as gutka and paan masala done a few years back showed the shocking presence of cancer–causing agents such N–nitrosoanabasine and N–nitrosonornicotine. Heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium and selenium too were found. The message that health experts give has been clear for over a decade now: Gutka causes cancer.

On the face of it, the colour sachets of gutka and paan masala cost Rs 3–10. But experts say the human cost, in terms of suffering and crores of deaths caused by their consumption, is huge; the thousands of crores spent on the treatment of diseases caused by these products outweighs the revenue the government earns from their sale.

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City sees a worrying rise in number of doctors getting addicted to drugs meant for sedating patients

The stress of their jobs and easy access to drugs is turning a number of anaesthetists in the city into addicts, putting their patients at peril.

Last month, a 35–year–old senior anaesthetist from Pune enrolled herself into Masina hospital’s drug rehab programme. But the doctors at the centre weren’t surprised. She was one of the many cases of doctors falling prey to substance abuse.

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Mumbai: Maharashtrians are highly knowledgeable about the ills of tobacco, with over 85% having some idea about the cancer–stick’s killing ways. Yet the state remains one of the largest consumers of tobacco in the country and every third adult is hooked to the habit, says the Global Adult Tobacco Survey’s fact sheet for Maharashtra.

Statistics for the state were culled out of the two-year-old survey to highlight the worrying popularity of gutka. Over 28% of those surveyed were addicted to the substance, said the survey, which was released at Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH), Parel, on Friday.

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It is being done as tobacco has been identified as the reason behind several communicable and non–communicable diseases

New Delhi: In a step to increase the reach of the National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP), the central government has instructed the states to use the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) workforce for anti–tobacco programmes.

Operational guidelines for NTCP released on Thursday emphasise on "synergising" NTCP with the NRHM at state and district levels.

"For capacity building of state/district, awareness generation through mass media, and monitoring/enforcement of anti-tobacco law, states must explore the possibilities of integrating it as a part of the NRHM activities and through the existing state health care delivery mechanism," the guidelines said.

It has also advocated involving workforce under other non–communicable disease programmes for prevention of cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and strokes, in the tobacco control programme.

The guidelines say it is being done as tobacco has been identified as the reason behind several communicable and non-communicable diseases.

World Health Organisation India Representative Nata Menabde stressed that tobacco lobbies needed to be fought to control tobacco.

"The economic returns from tobacco industry has been overrated while the loss of productivity, and social cost of tobacco is ignored... the struggle against tobacco lobbies will be tougher," she said on the sidelines of a function to release the guidelines.

Nearly 6 million Mumbaikars consume tobacco in some or the other form, according to statistics collected by Tata Memorial Hospital as part of its ongoing studies on tobacco use.

The hospital has estimated that of these, 2 million, or one out of every seven, will die prematurely of tobacco-consumption related complications, like heart and lung disease, cancer or stroke.

Hence, for the first time, doctors from the hospital have joined hands with the Association of Medical Consultants (AMC) to spearhead the anti–tobacco campaign and counsel users they meet.

Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, associate professor, surgical oncology, Tata hospital, said, "Despite interventional strategies to dissuade youth and others from falling prey to tobacco, city children are taking to the habit in droves. While the government is taking initiative, doctors need to step up too. We only need to devote two minutes of our time for each patient."

Experts say, a tobacco user reduces his/her life expectancy by eight to 10 years. "The World Health Organisation figures show that a third of the users die prematurely. The worrying factor is that most of these start consuming tobacco at the ages of 12-13," added Chaturvedi.

Dr Kishore Adyanthaya, AMC vice-president, said, "Non–communicable diseases have outpaced infectious diseases in wrecking the health of millions of Mumbaikars. The biggest cause of most of these diseases is preventable by stopping tobacco consumption."

Tobacco alone is the leading cause of 90% of the diseases affecting the mouth, 80% of the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 60% of heart diseases, 50% of cancers and 20% of all deaths. According to the Tata Memorial Centre data, tobacco use is linked to 85% of head and neck squamous cell cancer cases.

While doctors say a fast-paced and changing lifestyle leads to people taking to tobacco, like smoking, they are also worried because of the increase in number of women smokers.

"More and more people are working in night shifts. This has made them resort to the most easily available sources of adrenaline, smoking and coffee. Even women take to smoking, as they climb the corporate ladder, because they believe it to be the only outlet for stress,"said Adyanthaya.

Dr Reena Wani, professor, obstretics and gynaecology department at Nair hospital, said, "Earlier, smoking was believed to be a way of shedding weight and slimming. This, in particular, has had a detrimental effect on women. Sensitising a woman is the need of the hour."

Explaining why doctors need to be at the forefront of spreading awareness on tobacco usage, Chaturvedi said, "We have been fighting with the tobacco industries, government authorities on various platforms. A study, however, shows that physicians can be effective advocates in tobacco control efforts. Advice from doctors helps people quit smoking. According to the study, when a doctor gives a brief talk to a person on quitting, the likelihood of him doing so within a year increases."

The AMC plans to aggressively start the drive from their clinics from Monday. It will send a directive to its members in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai to have banners advertising the drive and the ill effects of tobacco. These will be strategically displayed at the clinics.

Tobacco is the leading cause of...
90% of the diseases affecting the mouth
80% of the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease cases
60% of heart diseases
50% of cancers
20% of all deaths

Amit (44) had nausea, no appetite and pain in the upper right abdomen.

He browsed the internet and found seven illnesses with similar symptoms. At first, he popped a few painkillers and antacids, but the discomfort was back.

A doctor's examination found that Amit's liver enzymes were on the higher side. More tests ruled out the possibility of viral hepatitis, a liver infection. But excess consumption of alcohol had damaged his liver. He was advised abstinence and put on antioxidant drugs.

City–based doctors said there is a considerable rise in alcoholic liver disease (ALD) in the productive age group. "We see such patients from all walks of life and they belong to the 30 to 50 years age group," hepatologist Harshal Gadhikar of Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital said.

Gadhikar sees around 8 to 10 patients of ALD each month. “The age threshold to develop ALD has gone down. My youngest patient is a 27–yearold from the automobile industry,” he said.