Khushbu Sundar and Kishwar Desai join Mothers Against Vaping to fight new age gateway devices

Mumbai: Khushbu Sundar, actress and politician, specially invited by the BJP national executive committee and member of the national women’s commission, and author and columnist Kishwar Desai has joined Mothers Against Vaping, a united front of concerned mothers fighting the growing vaping crisis among female youth.

Mothers Against Vaping highlights and opposes the global tobacco industry’s alleged strategies to lure children with new age input devices such as e-cigarettes, vaporizers, electronic nicotine delivery systems, non-heating products, e-hookahs, etc. These devices are considered safer alternatives to traditional tobacco smoking, however, these products pose serious health risks to children and adolescents.

Khushbu Sundar and Kishwar Desai joined Mothers Against Vaping at an event titled ‘Saving the Next Generation from New-Age Addiction’ organized by the Group on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day 2024 at the Indian International Center in New Delhi.

They join a distinguished group of leading sports icons and influential role models such as Baichung Bhutia, Deepa Malik and Neha Dhupia who support Mothers Against Vaping in their efforts to eliminate the menace of vaping and e-cigarettes from children’s lives.

Joining Mothers Against Vaping, Khushbu Sundar, speaking about the dangerous impact of vaping and e-cigarettes on the lives of children and young people, said: “As a nation, we are making great strides towards ensuring a bright future for our children. However, we must confront the pressing issues that plague their current reality, such as the alarming proliferation of New Age Gateway devices such as e-cigarettes and vaporizers. It is very disturbing to see manufacturers of such devices targeting our children in an attempt to create a future customer base for them with these temptingly elegant and sophisticated products.”

“In addition to the dangerous health risks posed to our children and young people by the use of these products, it also jeopardizes their future career prospects and hinders their potential contributions to the growth and development of our nation. To secure the future of our nation, we must also secure the future of our children. It is very important that we make every effort to eliminate the use of these illegal and prohibited devices from our society. I fully support Mothers Against Vaping in their mission to remove the influence of these addictive devices from the lives of our children,” added Khushbu.

Author and columnist Kishwar Desai said, “With sleek electronic devices grabbing the attention of children these days, they are often eager to try them out – whether to look cool, satisfy their curiosity or to express themselves. But this is a dangerous path. As mothers, citizens and thought leaders, we have an obligation to hold a mirror up to them and convey that this path only leads to disaster and an unfulfilled life.

Over the years, the government has actively taken steps to address this issue, however, as unscrupulous elements continue to find new ways, there is a need to strengthen the enforcement framework; and a step in this direction could be a significant tightening of penal provisions against perpetrators,” Desai added.

During the event, mothers from all walks of life united under the Mothers Against Vaping initiative and pledged to protect children from the interference of the global tobacco industry, in line with the WHO slogan “Protecting children from the interference of the tobacco industry” on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day 2024.

The oath ceremony took place in the presence of a large number of mothers. The oath ceremony was led by the chief guests Padma Shri Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award and distinguished member of Mothers Against Vaping – Deepa Malik. She said: “This commitment is crucial. I am deeply concerned that our children are being lured into the tactics of device manufacturers, risking a lifelong addiction not only to nicotine, but also to even more dangerous substances. It breaks my heart to see children engaging in such activities when there are much more engaging activities like sports that they can participate in and move towards a bright future and Fit India in a healthy way. We need to organize more events like this and raise awareness about this pressing issue that affects our children.”

Speaking about the reasons for the growing popularity of these modern devices among children, clinical psychologist and founder of Happiness Studio, Dr. Bhavna Barmi, said: “Children’s mental states make them very susceptible to early experimentation with addictive behaviors. That’s why we’re witnessing a disturbing trend: a sharp increase in the number of children attracted to tempting, addictive electronic devices such as vaporizers and e-cigarettes. A major factor driving this trend is the packaging and advertising tactics used by the manufacturers of these modern devices.”

During the event, Mothers Against Vaping released a four-point agenda to counter and neutralize five popular alleged strategies adopted by the global tobacco industry to promote input devices to young children.

Five popular global tobacco industry strategies to promote New Age devices to children include the industry focusing on New Age electronic devices rather than traditional tobacco products because children are eager to adopt these devices; spreading misinformation that e-cigarettes and similar electronic devices, such as non-heating devices, are less harmful than traditional tobacco products; early picking on children; digital marketing and smuggling of these devices to avoid regulations banning the use of vaporizers and e-cigarettes.

The four-point agenda published by Mothers Against Vaping to counter the strategies of the Global Tobacco Industry includes educating stakeholders through robust campaigns; Providing information about health risks by health care professionals, in particular doctors; Leveraging the same marketing tools and digital spaces used by Tobacco MNCs and calling on policymakers to tackle smuggling.

Digital marketing is a powerful tool to reach children by presenting these devices as cool and desirable. Through platforms such as social media, online advertising and partnerships with influencers, the tobacco industry allegedly glorifies these products, effectively popularizing them among children and adolescents. Interestingly, Mothers Against Vaping argues that the same digital platforms should be used to launch effective campaigns across digital channels, including influencers that children admire and identify with.

These campaigns can promote messages that focus on body appreciation and accepting individuality. Campaigns can encourage children to reject input devices and adopt positive behaviors such as expressing their uniqueness, which can lead to an increase in their self-esteem and self-esteem, as well as enabling them to gain knowledge and confidence. elections. Mothers and teachers should also engage effectively in these digital spaces. Policymakers should also be urged to introduce strict regulations banning the various marketing and digital tools being deployed.