On the occasion of the National Youth Day, 12th of January 2022, Nada Young India Network for Good Health held a webinar attended by around 111 participants from across India to call upon the government, stakeholders and its member groups interns to join in voicing the major asks of the youth of the country on National Youth Day.
The event was held in the evening in collaboration with NSS unit, Vivekanand College, University of Delhi. The knowledge partner for the event was Vidya Lead Academy.
The first session “Empowering Lives” was dedicated to listening to ground experiences of policy intervention efforts by youths on tobacco control and specifically engagement on tax increase on tobacco products. The speakers on the occasion included NYIN members Deepshikha from Haryana, Sarabjeet from Punjab, Permesh from Himachal Pradesh and Rinki Gupta from the NYIN national team.
The second session focussed on ‘Empowering Leadership’ and it was dedicated to listening to mentor voices guiding on effective and efficient policy intervention methods. The session focussed on tobacco control measures and tax increase as a method for decreasing tobacco consumption among youths.
The session was special because it had the presence and talk by Shri Veerender Mishra, IPS, senior government of India official and ardent supporter of youth movement for good health. Shri Mishra congratulated the young participants for their efforts in tobacco control and called upon them to work unitedly until destination is reached.
We had inspiring talk from Shri Virender Singh Boken from Nehru Yuva Kendra Sanghanthan, Tobacco Control activist Shri Govind Tripathi and Dr Dilip Kumar, Vivekananda College NSS
Shri Virender Mishra, IPS joined the webinar to support health and remind youth of their value. He also stated the average age of India is going to be 29 from this year onwards and hence, it’s the responsibility of us the young spirits to think for the future of our youth- centric nation and be enthusiastic about change. He appreciated the continuous efforts of the Nada young India Network members to sensitize policymakers and bureaucrats for the wellbeing of coming generations.
Mr Govind Tripathi highlighted the importance of an increase in Tobacco taxes as a way forward to increase the revenue for our nation as well as decreasing the consumption. Mr Tripathi shared,” According to World Health organization tobacco taxes should be marked
around 75%, although in India tobacco taxes are around 28%” hence it is important to look after our nation’s wellbeing and protect the target consumers and passive smokers losing lives daily in every passing 6 seconds. NSS volunteers and NYIN members from Vivekananda College, Delhi University, CBLU University, Bhiwani, Amity University, Noida, IIPH, Noida, Himachal Pradesh University, Panjab University, Manav Rachna University participated in the webinar in large numbers and had discussions with mentors on issues concerning a healthy India.
Ms Vanya Gupta, Ms Aditi, Ms Jhanvi and Ms Mitushi along with Ms Deepshikha were instrumental in hosting and coordinating the event along with NYIN Haryana coordinator Shri Akshay Sharma, the event organising secretary. Major asks of the youth raised during the webinar included: • According to the World Health Organization, raising the price of tobacco products through tax increases is the most effective policy not only to reduce tobacco use but also to raise tax revenue.
• Higher tobacco prices that decrease affordability encourage cessation among users, prevent initiation among non-users, and reduce the quantity consumed among continuing users.
• Tobacco taxes are particularly effective among vulnerable populations such as youth and low-income smokers. A 10% price increase reduces tobacco consumption by 5% in low- and middle-income countries.
• Increasing Tobacco taxes is a WIN-WIN policy during COVID as it can address the economic shock from the COVID-19 pandemic and directly reduce COVID related co-morbidities.
For NYIN details please visit https://youthforwellbeing.org/nada-young-india-network-1
Comments
Post a Comment