On occasion of "World No Tobacco Day", with the guidance and support of Dr (Prof.) Prashant P. Joshi, Executive Director & CEO, AIIMS Nagpur, the Department of Psychiatry in collaboration with the Department of Community Medicine, AIIMS Nagpur organized an awareness and training program for ASHA workers and Community Health Workers at PHC Bela, Umred on 31^st May 2024.

The event began with a welcome address by Dr. Akanksha Deshmukh (Senior Resident, Dept. of Community Medicine), followed by a skit on tobacco dependence and its hazards performed by Dr. Parul Gotmare (Junior resident) and Dr. Aditya and Dr. Abhishek (interns) from the Department of Community Medicine.

An introduction to tobacco dependence, the importance of identifying and preventing tobacco use in young population and its management was provided by Dr. Sayalee Daberao (Assistant Professor, TeleMANAS Mentoring Unit, Dept. of Psychiatry), Mrs. Abhilasha Thakur (Clinical Psychologist), Ms. Diksha Sadar (Psychiatric Social Worker, Tele MANAS Mentoring Unit, Dept. of Psychiatry) and Dr. Kaushik Biswas (Junior Resident, Dept. of Psychiatry). They also educated ASHA workers on identifying dependence patterns and brief intervention techniques with the help of a role play. All the attendees took a pledge to prevent tobacco use in the community. The program concluded with thanks by Dr. Priyanka (Asst. Professor, Department of Community Medicine). Dr. Pradeep Deshmukh (Professor & Head, Department of Community Medicine) was also instrumental in the organization of this program. The arrangements at the PHC were coordinated by Dr. Bhandari, Medical Officer, PHC Bela.