Tobacco use: Sucking the youth from the youngsters

Dr Sophia Thomas, CNS Correspondent, India

I met Somu (name changed) during one of my dental outreach camps in the outskirts of Bengaluru city. He was a bright 14-year-old boy, who wanted to grow up to be a police officer. Upon examination, Somu was found to have stains on his teeth, suggestive of smoking tobacco.

Smokeless tobacco under gender lens

Dr Sophia Thomas, CNS Correspondent, India
The first World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) was observed on 31 May 1988, a year after this global campaign was created during the World Health Assembly by the World Health Organization. The objective of WNTD was to encourage all persons worldwide who smoke or chew tobacco to quit for at least 24 hours. Ironically, a simple google search of “World No Tobacco Day” brings up a series of images showing cigarettes being shunned in creative ways. The current theme of WNTD focuses on effects of tobacco on cardiovascular health and is depicted as smoke rising from the blood vessels of the heart. Unfortunately, most of the images, depicting the health hazards of tobacco, fail to showcase the harmful effects of ‘smokeless’ forms of tobacco, which are equally harmful.

Stigma-a stumbling block in eliminating TB and HIV

Dr Sophia Thomas, CNS Correspondent, India

Tara (name changed) was ill. She was the youngest daughter of my house help. It is not very often that we saw her worried and this made me ask her what was wrong. And wrong it was, as Tara had been diagnosed with TB. The mere name of the disease caused her mother endless worries. Her main cause of concern was that her daughter would soon attain a marriageable age and, given her condition, it would be difficult to find a groom for her.

Breaking the TB-diabetes nexus for a healthier India

Dr Sophia Thomas, CNS Correspondent, India

Source: World Diabetes Foundation

On the occasion of World Diabetes Day  2017 (November 14), Dr Soumya Swaminathan, WHO Deputy Director General and Director-General of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), called for a standardised approach to tackle non-communicable diseases (NCDs) similar to the Indian government’s Revised National  TB control programme (RNTCP). Interestingly, there is a synergistic linkage between the two diseases which share some common risk factors.

Tobacco endgame is imperative for sustainable development

Dr Sophia Thomas, CNS Correspondent, India

It was my first clinical posting in the oral medicine department as a final year BDS (dental) student. A patient walked into the clinic nervously. He was a migrant daily wage construction worker in his late 20’s, married with 2 children. He complained of pain and multiple ulcers in the mouth. Upon careful examination, it looked like a case of oral cancer. I enquired about his smoking history and he admitted to have been smoking since he was 13 years old and also consumed chewable tobacco.