Cancer has become rampant in the North-East region of the country due to tobacco addiction; in Odisha, incidences of oral cancer are very high in Puri due to of easy access to tobacco coupled with betel-cultivation in the district, said Nalco CMD TK Chand while addressing the Youth against Tobacco campaign, inaugurated at the Singhadwar in Puri on Sunday.
The campaign initiated by voluntary outfit Mission Odisha is supported by the Nalco. Around 300 schoolchildren and volunteers participated in the campaign.
As part of the campaign, four persons, Madhu Sudan Mishra, Rashmi Ranjan Dash, Kedarnath Mohapatra and Chandi Prasad Pattanaik, took out a motorcycle rally, which will cover eight States in North-Eastern India to sensitise youths about the health hazards of tobacco-chewing.
The rally was flagged off Health Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak in the presence of the Nalco CMD, Puri Collector Arvind Agarwal and SP Asish Singh and Badri Mishra of Mission Odisha. An anti-tobacco sand animation film by artist Manas Sahoo was also released. The Naclo CMD was conferred with the Utkal Ratna Award by the Mission Odisha.