The National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE) is an Indian

federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

of 20

non-governmental organisations A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

that was founded during a meeting in

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

in 1992. The first national chairman was

Sharad Vaidya Sharad Vaidya (7 March 1936 – 19 October 2000) was an Indian surgeon who specialized in cancer surgery. He established the Goa Cancer Society and founded the Gosalia Memorial Cancer Hospital and the National Organisation for Tobacco Eradicatio ...

, who retained this position until his death in 2000. Currently, the federation is chaired by Shekhar Salkar. NOTE has chapters in 7 states (

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of S ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

, and Goa) and has its headquarters in Goa. There are collaborating institutions and individuals in all Indian states.

Aims and objectives

# Networking and co-ordinating campaigns of various institutions and NGOs # Exerting pressure on the government for policy changes # Exposing and attacking the tobacco companies # Research into various aspects of campaigns and policies at the national level # Interaction with international bodies like WHO, UICC, World Bank, American Cancer Society etc. for mobilising international opinion towards a tobacco-free world

Activities

NOTE's campaign is built on solid information about tobacco and its effects on health. NOTE analyses and assesses public policy, publications, journals, official reports, medical research, and the media. It makes this information available to members and collaborators. Several papers and letters have been published under the auspices of NOTE (e.g., in ''

BMJ ''The BMJ'' is a weekly peer-reviewed medical trade journal, published by the trade union the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world's oldest general medical journals. Origina ...

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The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823. The journal publishes original research articles, ...

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The New England Journal of Medicine ''The New England Journal of Medicine'' (''NEJM'') is a weekly medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It is among the most prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals as well as the oldest continuously published one. His ...

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The Journal of Indian Medical Association The Indian Medical Association (IMA) is a national voluntary organisation of physicians in India. It was established in 1928 as the All India Medical Association, and was renamed the Indian Medical Association in 1930. It is a society registered ...

''). In August 2000, Dr Sharad Vaidya made a representation to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. NOTE continues to campaign against depiction of tobacco in the media NOTE produces a range of campaigning materials including video cassettes, audio cassettes, flip charts, booklets, posters, and stickers. Through its activities, NOTE was able to bring about a change in the perception about tobacco in the general population and in 1997 the first anti-tobacco law was passed in Goa (The Goa Prohibition of Smoking and Spitting Act, 1997; Goa Act 5 of 1999). In the 10 years following the passing of this law, the morbidity and mortality from tobacco related diseases were reduced significantly.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Organisations based in Goa Addiction and substance abuse organizations Smoking in India 2009 establishments in Goa Organizations established in 2009