Several teachers from many leading schools across the country have joined hands to take the cudgel on behalf of the children against the e-cigarettes such as vaping devices and heat-not-burn products with specific focus on protecting the impressionable minds from the menace.
On the Children’s Day being celebrated on November 14, under the platform, ‘Teachers Against Vaping’, they have written a letter to Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister for Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, demanding institutionalisation of communication programmes to raise awareness about the adverse effects of electronic cigarettes in all forms.
They also emphasized on creating awareness among their fellow teachers, parents and children about the recent clarifications in law which ban manufacture, sale and even possession of these devices.
These teachers are supporting 'Mothers Against Vaping', a united front of concerned mothers combating efforts by foreign manufacturers to promote these products among Indian youth.
They flagged concerns that international tobacco companies, driven by their pursuit of new markets, are disseminating misleading information that portrays new-age e-cigarettes as either harmless or less harmful in comparison to smoking traditional cigarettes.
These companies are aggressively marketing products like vaping, heat-not-burn devices, and e-hookahs in India, said the group ‘Teachers against Vaping’.
They also alleged that schools have become the hunting ground for these marketers who are using below the radar methods to popularise such products in a systemic manner beginning with favoured options and gradually leading the users to graduate to higher level of substances and spreading misinformation.
Taking exception to the growing vaping menace, the World Health Organization, infact in September released two publications, “Freedom from tobacco and nicotine: guide for schools,†and “Nicotine- and tobacco-free school toolkit†to help protect children’s health just in time for back-to-school season in many countries.
It said that the tobacco industry relentlessly targets young people with tobacco and nicotine products resulting in e-cigarette use increasing and 9 out of 10 smokers starting before the age of 18. “Products have also been made more affordable for young people through the sale of single-use cigarettes and e-cigarettes, which typically lack health warnings,†the WHO said in a statement during the release of the publications.
Regulators in the United States too have warned companies to stop selling illegal e-cigarettes that appeal to youth by resembling school supplies, cartoon characters, and even teddy bears. India, on its part, has already banned the sale and manufacture of such tobacco-induced products. But the companies have been selling it in the market using nefarious ways, said the group of the teachers.
