Balparishad - a health assembly of young leaders advocating for tobacco control around schools and in the communities
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Salaam Bombay Foundation, Tobacco Control & Advocacy, India
Publication date: 2018-03-01
Tob. Induc. Dis. 2018;16(Suppl 1):A60
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ABSTRACT
Background and challenges to implementation:
Tobacco use
among school children is a serious problem in India. Lack of proper guidance, urge to imitate
elders, peer pressure, misconceptions, availability of variety of tobacco
products near schools and attractive advertisements of tobacco products attract
the children to tobacco. Salaam Bombay Foundation (SBF), under its leadership
program made an effort to create a team of young advocates and equipped the
team with self confidence, refusal skills and advocacy concepts to work towards
making their schools and communities tobacco free.
Intervention or response:
The process for
students' health assembly formation begins with an intensive training of
students on harmful effects of tobacco, tobacco control law and tobacco free
schools. A class level Balpanchayat is created involving eight students from
each class. Then a school Balpanchayat is formed involving eight students selected
from the class level Balpanchayats. The leaders of school Balpanchayats are further
trained in Balparishad (Student's Health Assembly) to initiate and lead the
advocacy activities to make their schools and communities tobacco free. The
members of Balparishad sensitize the community, coordinate with stakeholders
from all the concerned authorities and present their demands before concerned
authorities.
Results and lessons learnt:
Due to advocacy
efforts of students' health assembly 153 shops in Mumbai stopped selling tobacco
products. Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) issued a circular to
ban surrogate tobacco advertising in Ganeshotsav pandals. MCGM included COTPA
2003 in Shops and Establishments Act and made compliance of its section 6 which
prohibits sale of tobacco products to minors and within 100 yards of educational
institutions. Tobacco advertisements were removed from 4,680 BEST public
transport buses.
Conclusions and key recommendations:
The results of intervention show that training and capacity
building of youth is helpful in creating awareness on harms of tobacco products
and motivating them to take steps to sensitize stakeholders to act against
violations in sale and promotion of tobacco products.