State Anti tobacco cell, Government of Karnataka had conducted a coalition meeting of all private stakeholders organisation working on tobacco control measures on 22nd April 2019 at Health Directorate.
Dr Jagadish Joint Director – Medical , Dr Selvarajan Deputy Director – Mediacl, Mr Chandrashekar, Nodal Officer, High Power Committee on Tobacco control, Dr Vishal Rao and Dr Upendra Bhojani.
State Anti Tobacco Cell had organised a Coalition Meeting with all the key stakeholders working on Tobacco control in State on 22nd April 2019 at Health directorate. In the meeting had a discussion on current tobacco control policies and their implementation at grassroot level of all the districts of Karnataka. Dr Upendra Bhojani Assistant Director, IPH, Dr Pragati Hebbar,Faculty, IPH, Dr Chandrashekar, Advocacy Officer, IPH and Dr Vishal Rao, Adjunct Faculty, IPH had participated in the meeting and shared their thoughts on implementation of tobacco control activities and IEC campaign for the upcoming World No Tobacco Day.
The fourth edition of the ‘National Conference on Tobacco or Health’ concluded recently in Mumbai (8-10 February 2019). It saw a range of stakeholders across Indian states coming together in what the conference’s organizing secretary described as the “Kumbh Mela” of tobacco control. The Institute of Public Health (Bengaluru) had a strong presence at the conference, attended by Upendra Bhojani, Faculty and India Alliance Fellow, and his team, Aparna Vincent and Amiti Varma. Upendra served as a co-chair for the pre-conference and presented on ‘research ethics’ as part of a pre-conference workshop on research priorities for tobacco control in India. Apart from chairing a couple of sessions in the conference, he presented on the politics of tobacco and on tobacco industry interference, including in the closing plenary of the conference. Amiti presented on behalf of Pragati Hebbar (IPH faculty and India Alliance Fellow) on studying the implementation of tobacco control laws in India.
The NCTOH has been an important platform for individuals and organizations working on tobacco control across all of India to come together, and the 4th NCTOH was equally enriching and productive.
A round-table discussion was organized in city on 27th Feb, 2019 by Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru with the support of AXA Business Services under the banner of ‘Safer roads Bengaluru’ initiative. This was organised to discuss the issues pertaining to the selected stretch of road, Hebbal to KR Puram, based on the recent study findings conducted by IPH in association with Padmashree School of Public Health & to chalk out effective interventions possible to improve practices and make this road safer. This round-table meeting witnessed the participation of individuals from varied fields, government officials, educational experts, public health experts and road safety experts giving their inputs and suggestions to develop effective interventions.
Retired IAS officer and Ex-transport commissioner, Shri Rame gowda, Additional commissioner of transport(Enforcement) and Director of Road safety authority Shri Narayana Swamy, Shri Rajesh K from Youth for Seva, Dr. Uma Shankar, Principal of Padmashree school of public health, Dr. Asha Abhikar, Deputy Director of state road safety authority, Dr. Gautham from NIMHANS, Dr. Thriveni B S, member of BBMP NCD prevention task force committee, Smt. Amrin Fathima, Program Manager, AXA Business services, Shri. Thirumala Rao C V, Retired Deputy director of public instruction, Dr. Manish Rao From Savior were participated in the discussion on the preliminary findings of the study and gave valuable inputs for the effective interventions.
A media briefing was also organised followed by the round-table.
The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is the World’s first ever global treaty on health. Several countries have ratified the treaty that aims to reduce tobacco use and the related health burden globally. India was among the earlier countries to sign and ratify the treaty. The treaty negotiation happens through a conference of parties that meet periodically. The last (8th) session of the conference of parties happened in Geneva. Upendra Bhojani of the Institute of Public Health (IPH) participated in the session as a civil society observer. He represented the Framework Convention Alliance, a global alliance of civil society organizations interested in ensuring better implementation of the WHO FCTC. Upendra worked as part of a team from the Department of Anthropology, Durham University doing event ethnography of the session of the Conference of the Parties.
Dr. Pragati Hebbar will be presenting a seminar on the topic ‘Unpacking implementation’.
As part of her early career Wellcome trust/ DBT India Alliance fellowship she is undertaking an ‘Implementation research for taking tobacco control policy interventions to scale in India’. One of the first steps in this endeavor is to unpack ‘implementation’ and related concepts/models/theories/frameworks and define it for this project purpose. Through this seminar she would like to share her readings and thoughts on the topic of implementation and garner feedback into how she has situated the same in her work.
Awareness activities on road safety by the Institute of Public Health and Padmashree school of public health under the initiative of ‘SAFER ROADS BENGALURU’ at Hebbal Junction
Institute of Public Health under the banner of ‘SAFER ROADS BENGALURU’ initiative in association with Padmashree School of Public Health with the support of Bengaluru Traffic Police and Road safety authority had organized a road safety awareness activity to mark the national road safety week 2019 on 09th Jan 2019 at Hebbal junction.
Human chain by students to create road safety awareness
As part of this awareness program, a human chain was formed. Students with effective messages on road safety approached two-wheeler riders who were not wearing helmets and four-wheeler drivers who were not wearing seat belts to pass on the message on the importance of wearing helmets and seat belts along with the other road safety measures. Students also performed small skits on the road when the traffic signal was in stop mode.
Dr. Pragati Hebbar, Faculty, Institute of Public Health, Dr. Uma Shankar from Padmashree School of Public Health, Shri. Praveen, Police Inspector, Hebbal Police station along with more than a hundred students participated in this event.
Students creating awareness during Road safety week event organised by IPH
