SRINAGAR: Director of Health Kashmir, Dr. Mushtaq Ahmad Rather, stated on Thursday that the health department in Kashmir has collected fines of more than 1.5 lac rupees from offenders in 2023 in an effort to curtail the issue of tobacco use in public areas. Speaking to media representatives on the sidelines of a one-day media sensitization workshop for the national tobacco control programme, he emphasised the critical need for public support in achieving this goal and stated that the push for a tobacco-free environment is not only a matter of law but also a public health imperative.Dr. Mushtaq Ahmad Rather emphasised the value of public support in the struggle against cigarette usage. He emphasised that without the active participation of the public, no programme or effort to address any issue can genuinely be successful. Positively, a sizable share of the fines gathered is evidence of residents’ desire to follow tobacco control laws. Dr. Rather also emphasised that smoking is a problem in homes as much as in public settings. Children and elderly family members may suffer negative impacts from smoking in residential areas.According to a recent survey done in conjunction with the Social Welfare Department, 50,000 out of 70,000 people were discovered to be intravenous drug users. He quoted this data. Alarming findings showed that many of these drug users, including minors, had a history of smoking. Dr. Rather emphasised the connection between substance misuse and smoking, calling for a holistic strategy to address both problems. He said that additional treatment facilities (ATF) centres had been constructed in each district of the valley to address the growing concern about substance misuse, particularly among young people. According to him, these facilities work to give those in need the help and intervention they require, utilising a wholistic strategy to combat addiction and advance better lifestyles.
