RANGPUR : Mayor of Rangpur City Corporation (RCC) and valiant freedom fighter Alhaj Sharfuddin Ahmed Jhantu on Tuesday declared all public places in Rangpur city as smoking-free zones, reports BSS

Mayor of Rangpur City Corporation (RCC) and valiant freedom fighter Alhaj Sharfuddin Ahmed Jhantu on Tuesday declared all public places in Rangpur city as smoking-free zones, reports BSS.

Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena said he will face any challenge in fighting against smoking. The Minister was addressing the gathering after an anti-smoking walk in Colombo yesterday.

Around Rs.2000 million has been granted to the Health Ministry in the 2014 budget allocations to control the alarming spread of various forms of cancers and chronic kidney disease.

More people smoke worldwide today than in 1980, as population growth surges and cigarettes gain popularity in countries such as China, India and Russia, researchers said Tuesday.

The risk of dying from cancer in the United States has declined 20 percent over the past two decades, according to the American Cancer Society's annual report out Tuesday.

If you walk into a coffee-house and see more women smoking than was the case years ago – that picture may indeed be true, says a recently released global study on tobacco consumption.

The proportion of Indian men who smoke every day has fallen from a third to a little over a fifth over the last three decades, but the percentage of women smokers has remained largely unchanged.

In what is seen as a major achievement, the South Goa district has achieved the status as a smoke-free district.

It is now just a matter of time and a mere formality before the government declares South Goa a smoke free district.
In a communiqué, the Union, South East Asia Office of International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease has said that South Goa district has achieved parameters, including no active smoking observed (94 per cent), smoking signage displayed (63 per cent), absence of smoking aids (93 per cent), no cigarette butts/bidi end (83 per cent) and no smoking smell (90 per cent).