Kolkata, July 23 (IANS). The West Bengal government has taken a new initiative to keep school students away from tobacco addiction. A government official said on Thursday that a new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) has been issued for this, which has been sent to the Chief Health Officers of all the districts.
According to the guidelines, anti-tobacco awareness programs will be conducted in every school. If any student is found to be a victim of tobacco addiction, he will be given behavioral counseling. If needed, he will be sent to a bigger health center for better treatment.
As per the new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), every school will have to conduct a self-assessment of 100 marks every six months. Only those schools which get 90 percent or more marks will be given the certificate of ‘Tobacco Free Educational Institution’.
This initiative has been started after a recent survey conducted on the youth. The survey revealed that 8.5 percent of students in the age group of 13 to 15 years in West Bengal are addicted to cigarette or gutkha.
A special team will be formed in every block to make schools tobacco free. This team will include medical officers, staff nurses, pharmacists, counselors and block health managers of Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK). This team will visit the schools of the block.
Experts believe that this initiative of the West Bengal government will help the students to give up tobacco addiction. Public health officials said the ‘Tobacco Free Educational Institutions’ (TOFEI) program aims to make all educational institutions tobacco free. As per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), the Anti-Tobacco Act, 2003 will be strictly enforced.
Along with raising awareness about the harms of tobacco, students will also be given information about the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003.
Quiz, poster and debate competitions will be organized in schools. It will be the responsibility of the counselors to make students and parents aware about the harm of tobacco. The harm caused by tobacco will also be discussed in parent-teacher meetings.
Tobacco monitoring committee will be formed in every school. This committee will investigate whether tobacco is being sold anywhere within 100 yards of the school. To stop the sale of tobacco, better coordination will be created between schools, parents, local panchayats, youth organizations and police.
According to the Health Department, to get the certificate of ‘Tobacco Free Educational Institution’, schools will have to fulfill certain conditions. A ‘Tobacco Free Zone’ board will have to be installed at such a place in the school premises that it is easily visible. A banner of ‘Tobacco Free Educational Institute’ will also have to be placed at the main entrance. Apart from this, there should not be cigarettes, beedi pieces, empty packets of gutkha or khaini and spit marks in the school premises.
–IANS
SHK/PM