According to Global Youth Tobacco Survey-4,  38% of cigarette, 47% of bidi smokers and 52% of smokeless tobacco users in India initiated use before their 10th birthday. On World No Tobacco Day, Apex Cancer Hospital, Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), in collaboration with Bollywood’s music composer duo Salim-Sulaiman  launched a new musical anthem,  ‘Aaj Zindagi Jeete Hain’, at the national level, aiming to use the universal language of music to engage youth and promote a healthy lifestyle free from tobacco use. Honourable Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, Shri Mansukh Mandaviya launched the campaign’s audio-music nationally. The song has been written by celebrated lyricist Irfan Siddiqui and budding actor Arjun Tanwar is featured in the video as a narrator promoting a tobacco-free life. The campaign is directed at youth in India as 8.5% of tobacco users are between the age of 13-15 years.

While launching the campaign, Dr. Pankaj Chaturvedi, Head and Neck Cancer Surgeon, Tata Memorial Centre said, “Tobacco use is a leading preventable killer in the world, and in India, it is responsible for around 1 million deaths annually. We believe, while evidence-based hard-hitting mass media campaigns will continue to create intentions of behavior change among the masses to quit tobacco use, new initiatives such as “Aaj Zindagi Jeete Hain” have the potential to engage audiences, especially our youngsters on musical and digital platforms. This multi-stakeholder initiative will converge the efforts of various government agencies and organizations under the #IndiaVsTobacco umbrella campaign, to ultimately enhance the health status of the people. We express our deepest appreciation towards Salim-Sulaiman and their team in their efforts to use a varied medium of communication for supporting our tobacco control efforts.”

This campaign was developed with the technical support of global health organization, Vital Strategies, under a partnership with WebRangers Entertainment, a prominent digital marketing and entertainment company. The company uses their expertise in influencer marketing to unite an impressive array of digital personalities to further enrich the campaign.

Suman Nalwa, PRO, Delhi Police said, “We congratulate Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Tata Memorial Centre and partners on the audio launch of this important campaign. We believe it will go a long way in motivating and mobilizing Indian youth and are honored to be a part of this initiative. As law enforcers, we support this cause to reduce the burden of tobacco use in India by strengthening tobacco control implementation efforts. This campaign is a critical step forward to raise awareness among youth and the general public, which will help us in enforcement activities under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) 2003. Our communication department will ensure that this campaign is spread through numerous platforms and media within our network.”

Sharing his views, Bollywood music composer, Salim Merchant said, “We fully support the #IndiaVsTobacco campaign, which is a step towards spreading public awareness around the harmful effects of tobacco consumption in India. We have always believed that music has the power to change the world. We are humbled to be part of a campaign that will engage youth in a meaningful way towards choosing a healthy lifestyle free from tobacco use. With the support of Vital Strategies and the innovative approach of WebRangers Entertainment, we are certain our little effort will inspire and potentially create a cadre of young changemakers to help spread awareness about the health hazards of tobacco. Every death from tobacco is preventable and our entertainment industry has the potential to be part of this change”.

Vaishakhi Mallik, Director, Policy Advocacy and Communication Programs, Vital Strategies India, said, “India is the second-largest consumer of tobacco. Nearly 267 million Indians aged 15 years and above, use tobacco products. The ‘Aaj Zindagi Jeete Hain’ campaign will be helpful in engaging youth to prevent tobacco use initiation and protect them from tobacco-related diseases. One of the most effective strategies to protect youth is to ban tobacco advertising, promotions, and sponsorships especially on social media, which children and young people use daily. Through continuous monitoring of tobacco marketing on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, our digital media monitoring system, TERM, has documented instances of tobacco smoking imagery on online movie posters which are not allowed under the “Film rules.” Together, the movie industry and the public health community can make great strides to protect our youth. We congratulate Tata Memorial Centre for launching the campaign on such a significant day, and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India for releasing the audio music.”