NEW DELHI: The World Health Organization (WHO) has conferred the World No Tobacco Day Award 2020 to the Socio-Economic and Educational Development Society (SEEDS), an NGO, for its efforts to ban pan masala, gutkha, e-cigarettes and hookah in Bihar and Jharkhand.
On the occasion of World No Tobacco Day on May 31, the WHO selects organisations and individuals from its six regions every year for their exceptional contribution in the field of tobacco control. The SEEDS is among the three awardees selected from the South-East Asia Region. The organisation has been working closely with the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on prevention and control of smokeless tobacco use. The ministry has nominated Deepak Mishra, executive director of the SEEDS, as a member of the task force on the de-addiction campaign.