Chronic Care Foundation launches 'Nasha Mukht Punjab' (Punjab da josh - Punjab di Shaan) campaign in Amritsar
Series of community awareness activities will be held across the city between 15th - 19th January to spread awareness on prevention of substance abuse
Tweet-- Chronic Care Foundation, a registered charitable trust based in New Delhi, is launching a mass awareness and education campaign titled "Nasha Mukht Punjab" - (Punjab da josh - Punjab di Shaan) from 15th to 19th January in Amritsar. The campaign aims to reach out to the youth of Amritsar and make them active promoters of health.
During the 5 day campaign, Chronic Care Foundation will be staging a series of street plays / nukkad nataks across the city of Amritsar to educate people about the ill effects of alcohol, tobacco, and substance abuse and its -adverse impact on the society as a whole.
Substance abuse which includes individual dependence on alcohol, drugs and tobacco is emerging as a major health and social problem in Punjab. According to an epidemiological survey conducted by the Department of Psychiatry, Govt. Medical College, Chandigarh, the minimum age of exposure to drugs is 20 years in the rural population and 19 years in the urban slums. The prevalence rate of alcohol consumption stood at a high of 25.11% in urban areas and at 60% in the rural areas of Amritsar. Due to the heavy dependence on drugs & alcohol, majority of the people involved in substance abuse reported chronic health complications followed by family problems. An RTI filed by a social activist in Chandigarh revealed that about two lakh bottles of liquor are sold in Chandigarh every day and on an average one individual drinks 136 bottles of alcohol annually (figure also includes under age drinkers).
"Nasha Mukht Punjab" campaign by Chronic Care Foundation aims to promote good health by educating the citizens on ways of prevention of chronic diseases by avoiding any form of substance (tobacco, alcohol and drug) abuse and minimizing the incidence and effects of substance abuse amongst the people of Punjab.
Notes to Editor
About Chronic Care Foundation:
Chronic Care Foundation is working within the healthcare space with the sole objective of spearheading preventive measures through collaboration, awareness and education initiatives, which directly influence the effect of Non-Communicable Chronic Diseases (NCCD) which includes- cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease, in India and integration of initiatives in advancing the health care system at the community level. CCF firmly believes that educating people about the risk factors largely responsible for causing NCCD namely tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, and harmful use of alcohol, and hence creating awareness about prevention of Non-Communicable Chronic Diseases (NCCD) is the only effective way of improving the health condition in India.