Aggressively promoting no smoking culture in the PGI campus, the premier health institute has asked Chandigarh Administration to give them powers to fine violators and issue them challans to curb the offence in the sprawling campus.
“We recently wrote a letter to the UT home secretary and have requested administration for an authority to challan the violators in PGI campus so that we may implement the ‘No Smoking’ campaign effectively”, said PC Sharma, Chief Security Officer, PGI, Chandigarh.
“Thousands of patients and their attendants visit our hospital from all over India every year. We face the problem with those people, who come from the Hindi speaking belts, and are not well aware of no smoking symbols and campaigns and start smoking openly,” he added.
He said PGI needs some authority to tackle those people who are not ready to obey the rules in the hospital where people come for treatment not get other diseases.
Sharma, however, said the institute has started preventive measures aggressively.
“We have put ‘No Smoking’ boxes at every entry point, including Nehru Hospital, Emergency, Advance Trauma Centre, Advanced Pediatric Centre, Advanced Cardiology, Advanced Eye Centre, New OPD etc. and ask all the attendants with the patients to drop their tobacco or related material including Beedi, cigarette, tabocco etc. in the box, if they have one”, said Sharma.
He added that the attendants are also checked thoroughly for any tobacco product and prevented from carrying them to the hospitals and wards.
“On an average we destroy 40 to 50 kg tobacco or tobacco related material every month under this campaign”, said Sharma.
The Regional Cancer Centre (RCC), PGI also guides people to abstain from tobacco or tobacco related products as it has reported more than 25,000 new cancer cases in the last four years, which are gradually increasing every year.
The consolidated report (2011-2013) of the hospital-based cancer registry of RCC during the period of 2011-13, also explains that 7,000 cancer cases were reported last year among the total registered 18,411 new patients (10,204 males and 8,207 females) with RCC. The numbers were 5,544 in 2011, which rose to 5,907 in 2012 and 6,617 in 2013.
Chandigarh administration too has started no smoking campaign in the city beautiful, but has failed as thousands of violators can be seen smoking at public places.
Even Chandigarh police, which not only has the responsibility but also the authority to execute the no smoking campaign in city also failed to check the violators.
It could challan only 78 violators for the offence, two years back, out of the thousands who smoke freely in public space.