Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Kumar Choubey on June 6 appealed to make a "Tobacco-free India" and to encourage people to give up tobacco consumption.

"We should have an addiction-free India that includes Tobacco-free India. We need community mobilization to encourage people to give up tobacco consumption. "Tobacco destroys families and communities," he said. He made an appeal for "Nasha Mukti Abhiyaan" and said: "Tobacco destroys families and communities. We need to start a nationwide abhiyaan- people's movement, to combat tobacco use."

The minister also inaugurated the two-day National Consultation on Accelerating Implementation of Tobacco Control Measures for the achievement of Goals under National Health Policy and made a strong call for accelerating tobacco control measures. He said that tobacco use is a leading cause of premature, NCD-associated mortality and morbidity, and a growing public health challenge. He further said that while many people are aware tobacco use increases the risk of cancer, there are alarming gaps in knowledge of the cardiovascular risks of tobacco use.