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Indian Health Ministry bags US award
The American Cancer Society has honoured the ministry for its "unrelenting stance on tobacco control".
The American Cancer Society has conferred its Luther L Terry Award on the Indian Health and Family Welfare Ministry for its "unrelenting stance on health promotion and tobacco control".
Minister of Health and Family Welfare Anbumani Ramadoss, who has left for the US, will receive the award at a ceremony during the World Conference on Tobacco in Washington on Friday, a ministry statement said.
The award has been conferred on the ministry for the "progressive enthusiasm" it showed since 1990 in enacting national tobacco control legislation and for unwavering leadership provided by the Indian delegation at the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), said the statement.
According to the website of the American Cancer Society, the ministry "is a model to which other nations may aspire".
"The ministry has demonstrated its unrelenting stance on health promotion and tobacco control through its support of a comprehensive national tobacco control policy and an effective FCTC.
"The ministry's vision for tobacco control extends beyond legislation, however, and its programmatic and financial support for non-governmental organisations engaged in tobacco control proves its commitment to, and innovation in, the tobacco control movement," adds the website.
Ramadoss has been keen on banning smoking in the Indian film industry. He is also focusing his efforts for a ban on gutka and panmasala.
In an interaction with a news agency, the minister had said school children were into smoking inspired by their heroes. "It is my duty to stop them from smoking," he said.
"I have no animosity towards any one in the film industry and my job is to think about the collective health of the country. Effort on banning on-screen smoking is only a step in that direction," he added.
Recently, the minister also appealed to Bollywood actors Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Aishwarya Rai to stop promoting soft drinks.
