FLO launches campaign against spitting in public

Tribune News Service

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Amritsar, June 4

The Indian Council of Medical Research had said spitting in public places could enhance the spread of Covid-19 significantly. The city chapter of FLO launched its ‘Quit Spit India Movement’ to create awareness that spitting is unhygienic, unhealthy and spreads the infection.

The campaign spearheaded by Dr Simarpreet Sandhu was launched in the city on World No Tobacco Day. Equalising spitting to killing people, the campaign is designed to not only spread awareness about the ill-effects of tobacco but also urge people to stop spitting in public.

As a part of India’s fight against the coronavirus, spitting in public places has been banned under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and is a punishable offence with a fine as per the guidelines issued by the MHA.

According to experts, spitting in public places can cause spread of Covid-19 as the virus remains active in saliva for one to three days.

“Spitting in public, which could not be dislodged even by the aggressive Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, poses a serious challenge to cleanliness and health. It needs urgent attention. The need of the hour is to spread awareness that spit spreads death,” said Meeta Mehra, chairperson, FLO Amritsar.

The campaign is supported by Sambandh Health Foundation, Gurugram, to spread the message to quit spitting by developing a web application, ‘Spitting Kills’.

“The app helps spread awareness through social media that spitting is unhygienic, unhealthy and spreads infection. The app shows a brief video on spitting and asks a few questions, which if answered correctly gives the user a participation certificate. This virtual campaign offers an opportunity of spreading the message to the public that spiting spreads death. We have received over 10,000 responses to our questionnaire through the Spitting Kills application till today, which is motivating,” said Dr Simarpreet, who is also an oral cancer prevention crusader.

About the Quit Spit India Movement

• The city chapter of FLO launched its ‘Quit Spit India Movement’ to create awareness that spitting is unhygienic, unhealthy and spreads infection
• The campaign spearheaded by Dr Simarpreet Sandhu was launched in the city on World No Tobacco Day. Equalising spitting to killing people, the campaign is designed to not only spread awareness about the ill-effects of tobacco but also urge people to stop spitting in public
• As a part of India’s fight against the coronavirus, spitting in public places has been banned under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and is a punishable offence with a fine as per the guidelines issued by the MHA

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