Voice of Tobacco Victims (VoTV)- a unique campaign that will give a collective space and voice to tobacco victims - is all set to take shape in Kerala. Health Minister V S Sivakumar will inaugurate the Kerala chapter of the Voice of Tobacco Victims (VoTV) here on November 12.
Tobacco victims would share their experiences on how tobacco use affected them and their families. With this, Kerala will be one among the five Indian states to have a dedicated VoTV state chapter. In this state chapter, senior doctors will come together to create awareness on the harmful effects of tobacco.
Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) director and president of VoTV Kerala chapter Paul Sebastian; Chapter Professor and Medical Superintendent, RCC, K Ramadas and Additional Director of Health A S Pradeepkumar would be present at the function.
More than one-fifth of Kerala’s adult population, above 15 years of age, use tobacco in some form and nearly 20,000 die from tobacco-induced cancers in the state every year. Tobacco victims, through the forum enabled by VoTV, would act as the public’s face of the tobacco control movement and advocate for change.
Patients suffering from cancer and other fatal diseases from tobacco use will be the members of this campaign and the message they convey through VoTV will be “This is what tobacco did to us, we want to save others”.
Doctors treating the patients, referred to as VoTV patrons, form part of this platform to reassure the victims and to provide clinical support to the statements made by the victims.
VoTV is the brainchild of renowned head and neck surgeon Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi of Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Hospital.