What if I told you that your child may already be a target of the tobacco industry?
That every advertisement, every colored sachet, every influencer puffing on screen – is a calculated step to trap our next generation into a lifelong addiction?
Every year, May 31 marks World No Tobacco Day (WNTD)—a global reminder that tobacco is not just a personal risk but a public health crisis.
As we mark World No Tobacco Day 2025, the WHO’s theme – “Protecting Children from Tobacco Industry Interference” – is a clarion call. But for me, it’s more than a theme. It is a battle we fight every single day, in clinics, communities, and classrooms.
The tobacco and nicotine industries have changed their playbook.
From flavored vapes to glossy influencer ads, the goal is simple: make addiction look attractive. Especially to our youth.
But behind every flavored puff is a harsh truth—tobacco kills over 8 million people every year.
🔍 What Are We Fighting Against? “Unmasking the Appeal” – Are We Letting the Next Generation Fall Into the Trap?
- Slick Packaging designed to lure first-time users.
- Flavors & Additives masking harmful chemicals.
- Digital Targeting through social media and gaming platforms.
This year’s campaign “Unmasking the Appeal” exposes these predatory strategies and calls on all of us—healthcare professionals, educators, parents, and policymakers—to take a stand.
A National Crisis Begins with a Single Puff
In India, oral cancer – largely caused by tobacco – is the number one cancer in men.
I met a 13.6-year-old boy diagnosed with advanced oral cancer. Class 9, barely into adolescence, but already fighting for his life. He started taking tobacco when he was just 6 year old.
Let’s be clear – this isn’t just a medical issue. It’s a moral and societal crisis.
Why Are We Still Reacting, Not Preventing?
As a cancer surgeon for over two decades, I have performed some of the most disfiguring surgeries — removing jaws, voice boxes, faces — to save lives destroyed by tobacco. But the question haunts me:
Why treat when we can prevent?
At MAX Super Specialty Hospital, Vaishali and Patparganj we have shifted focus from only curing to preventing the first lesion. Our initiative is not just to operate but to educate, to screen, and most importantly — to help quit.
And this is why I founded ICanCaRe — a dedicated movement towards tobacco cessation, cancer prevention, and structured behavioral intervention.
The Tobacco MARSHALs Movement: From Awareness to Action
Awareness without action is noise.
That’s why we are building an army — Tobacco MARSHALs (Motivate, Advise, Recognize, Sensitize, Handhold, Add, Lead).
These are trained individuals — not just doctors, but teachers, parents, students, and social leaders — empowered to:
- Recognize early signs like leukoplakia or oral fibrosis.
- Motivate users to quit.
- Enforce tobacco-free zones in their homes, schools, and workplaces.
- Provide structured help using the ICanCaRe protocol, which now shows 92% success at one month and 42% at two years.
How to Quit Tobacco – The Right Way
Quitting tobacco isn’t about willpower alone. It’s about having the right system, support, and strategy.
At ICanCaRe, we follow the ABCD Protocol:
- A – Active Motivation: Understand why you want to quit. Health, family, self-respect – anchor your reason.
- B – Behavioral Therapy: Recognize your triggers. Replace habits. Manage stress.
- C – Craving Management: Cravings are normal. Tools like chewing gum, herbal alternatives, and distraction methods help.
- D – Drugs and Medication: Under medical supervision, options like nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) or non-nicotine medications can improve success rates.
We also assess:
- Type of tobacco used (smoking, chewing, vaping)
- Level of addiction (slow, normal, or fast metabolizer)
- Readiness to quit
Our trained cessation counselors, digital app, and quit clinics are designed to walk with you, step by step.
Prevention is Affordable. Palliative is Not.
Let’s put it in perspective:
- A single session of tobacco cessation costs less than a meal at a restaurant.
- A late-stage cancer surgery costs lakhs, and often still fails to save the life.
- The real cost is the trauma, the disfigurement, the families shattered forever.
Protecting Children Is Not an Option. It’s a Duty.
The tobacco industry is relentless. Their marketing is colorful, manipulative, and aimed at the young.
Our response must be stronger — grounded in science, driven by compassion, and executed with courage.
Through ICanCaRe and Max Healthcare, we are proving that preventive care works.
But we can’t do this alone.
What Can You Do?
- Educate: Host or join workshops in your local school, college, or office.
- Amplify: Share facts, stories, and resources on social media.
- Support: Encourage loved ones to seek help through helplines and specialised centers.
The Call to Action
This World No Tobacco Day, I urge every reader:
- Become a Tobacco MARSHAL.
- Get trained. Help one person quit. Then another. Call 9773856664 ICanCaRe Support (support@icancare.com)
- Organize awareness in your school or workplace.
- Support clinics offering cessation services.
- Download the ICanCaRe Quit App. Visit a Quit Clinic at MAX. Make the first move. www.quittobacco.icancare.com
✊ The Power Lies With Us
If we stay silent, the next generation might become the industry’s next customer base.
If we speak up, act, and engage—we can save lives.
Let’s unmask the appeal.
Let’s tell the truth.
Let’s end the epidemic—together.
Because cancer is not just treated in hospitals. It is prevented in homes.
Let’s be the generation that ends the cycle — for our children, for our future.
Prof. (Dr.) Pawan Gupta MS(Gen.Surgery), M.Ch.(Surgical Oncology), FSOG, FAIS
CANCER SURGEON | WRITER | SOCIAL ACTIVIST | MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER
Senior Director, MAX | Founder – ICanCaRe
www.icancare.com | www.maxhealthcare.in
Connect on LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
www.linkedin.com/in/drpawangupta
Mail – support@icancare.com
