Smoke & win a dozen diseases!

Smoke and Win or conquer smoke

Once an ace shuttler, now coach and winner of Dronacharya and Arjuna award Pullela Gopichand was the Chief Guest at ‘The Smoke and Win’ event, which was hosted by Apollo Cancer Hospital on Thursday. The innovative contest had the smokers called onto stage and were made to spin the wheel and they won cancer as their prize.

The mock event had the specialised doctors who participated in the aptly titled ‘Smoke and Win’ contest and went on to explain about the harzardous effects tobacco. The event commenced with a presentation on how the nicotine molecules get people hooked onto smoking cigarettes and chewing tobacco and once addicted, it is very difficult to give up. This was followed by a question and answer session.

Later, a few participants explained how smoking ruined their lives. Once a happy family is now suffering as one of the family member was addicted to smoking cigarettes or chewing tobacco and are now suffering with the cancer. The statistics given by doctors about diseases related to smoking were simply mind boggling. There were also a few smokers who walked on to the stage and pledged to give up smoking.

Dr Vijay Anand Reddy, oncologist, cancer specialist, Apollo Hospitals conducted an experiment to demonstrate how smoking affects the lungs. Dr Reddy stressed on the ill effects of smoking and urged the participants to quit smoking. Speaking on the occasion Gopichand said, “One should have the will power to quit smoking. By kicking the butt one can win over life.” Budding badminton player Pradnya Gadre also participated in the event.