Nalini Satyanarayana, a seventy-two-year-old throat cancer survivor raised her voice against the harmful effects of passive smoking and has written to the Indian as well as Karnataka state government to revise the smoking rules in India. She says that Indian lawmakers do not stress upon the dangerous effects of passive smoking on non-smokers and the society at large is also unaware of it.
Though she never smoked a cigarette in her life, she was diagnosed with throat-cancer at 61, in 2009 for the adverse effects of her husband’s smoking habit. Due to the disease, she lost her voice box and after surgery, she received an artificial voice box in April 2010.
Satyanarayana, an activist of anti-tobacco laws, recently wrote to the Prime Minister of India, Union Health Minister, and Karnataka Chief Minister requesting them to intervene in the revision of the designated smoking area as per the existing rules under The Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA).
