THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Excise Commissioner Rishi Raj Singh will inaugurate the ‘No Tobacco and Anti Drugs’ campaign, jointly organised by The New Indian Express and SK Hospital, in front of the Secretariat on Friday. The campaign will begin with a respiratory medical camp at the venue.
A similar medical camp and awareness sessions by consultants with the Department of Respiratory Medicine of SK Hospital and counselling sessions by clinical psychologists will be held at SK Hospital on June 3. Smoking cessation clinic, de-addiction clinic, substance detox clinic of the hospital will be involved in the awareness campaign.
Awareness campaigns will be held for parents to help them understand and identify substance abuse in their children and the various methods of detox and abstinence. Around 20 schools and colleges will be covered under the campaign within a year. The campaign will reach out to nearly 4,000 students and their parents.
Counselling by clinical psychologists, empowering schools and colleges to educate students on keeping away from tobacco and substance abuse and campaigns in residential areas will also be held.
State-level inauguration
T’Puram: The state-level inauguration of ‘Anti-Tobacco Day’ will be held at VJT Hall here by Labour and Excise Minister TP Ramakrishnan at 11 pm on Thursday. The advertisement for ‘Vimukti’, the anti-narcotics campaign of the government, will also be released. Chief Secretary Asha Thomas will inaugurate the official website of ‘Vimukti’. ‘Vimukti’ short film competition winners will be given prizes. District panchayat president V K Madhu will launch the mobile application. MLA V S Sivakumar, Excise Commissioner Rishiraj Singh and Mayor V K Prasanth will be present at the event.