Sheshadripuram Degree College

When we left school and entered the university environment, we noticed there was a lot of ‘hype’ around tobacco and alcohol. Around the same time, we participated in a health awareness session in our college which was conducted by the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI). This made us aware that use of tobacco and alcohol are both major risk factors for various cardiovascular diseases. All forms of tobacco and even a little quantity of alcohol are harmful to our health.

After the session, we decided to participate in PHFI’s new initiative – Project PaTHWay: Promoting Health and Wellbeing. We will be working in equal partnership with our college management, PHFI and NIMHANS to create a tobacco and alcohol-free environment in and around our college through organizing various activities and campaigns. Ultimately, this will help to achieve a healthy society free from noncommunicable diseases, including heart disease.

We really want to focus on changing the perceptions attached to tobacco and alcohol use, and hopefully raise awareness for the general public as well. But as charity starts at home … we have all made a promise to ourselves to follow a heart healthy lifestyle, abstain from tobacco, alcohol and all other forms of substance misuse, and raise the profile on the need for others to do so.