GUWAHATI, April 28 - In an effort to make children aware of the harmful effects of tobacco, the Consumers� Legal Protection Forum (CLPF) and Consumer Voice, New Delhi, organised an awareness programme at a GMC slum in Bhangagarh on Sunday.
The awareness programme on the harmful effects on tobacco and tobacco products was organised in association with Chakshu, an organisation working among slum children where around 70 children and their parents took part.
Addressing the gathering, advocate and CLPF secretary Ajoy Hazarika said, �An intensive survey shows that in Guwahati, nearly half of the vendors around schools sell tobacco products. Vendors sell single sticks of cigarettes and bidis, making these products cheap and accessible to children and youth. Multinational tobacco companies sell tobacco products around schools, and vendors display tobacco products in ways that are appealing to children and youth.�
Chakshu founder Julie Kakati said that the tobacco consumption rate in this dense slum was higher than in other areas of Guwahati.
Snehanshu Singh from Consumer Voice said that the density of tobacco vendors in Guwahati was too high, both in commercial and residential areas, and there was no record available with government agencies about tobacco vendors.
An interaction session also took place where parents of children who consume tobacco raised various sensitive questions and urged the authorities to take tobacco control measures, especially to protect their young children from the menace of tobacco, a press release stated.
