Sunita Tomar, face of India’s anti-tobacco campaign has passed away at her native village in Bhind district of Madhya Pradesh. Few days ago she was admitted in Mumbai’s Tata Memorial hospital, amid indication of relapse of cancer. Two years ago, she had undergone a surgery for oral cancer at the hospital.
Sunita Tomar’s video was used by the government for its anti-tobacco drive to warn people against consumption of smokeless gutkha and pan masalas. Sunita is survived by two children Dhruv, 13, and Kuldeep, 10. The family originally hails from Ramta village of Bhind’s Ater tehsil, but later shifted to Bhind town.
Sunita was very active in “Lives Bachao Size Badhao“, a public awareness campaign, where she along with other volunteers gathered 38,740 signatures through an online and offline petition for implementing larger and stronger pictorial warnings on tobacco packages.
Tidbits
- Smokeless Tobacco contains nicotine similar to Cigarattes. These Smokeless Tobacco cause the gums to pull away from the teeth. If this happens, the gums will not grow back..
- Smokeless tobacco includes chewing tobacco, dip, ghutka, pan masala and betel quid. More than 28 chemicals in these products have been found to cause cancer.
- Nicotine works by making the brain release adrenaline-like compounds (such as dopamine or norepinephrine). Once the nicotine is gone, the brain stops releasing the positive neurotransmitters. So people get addicted to this.
