PANAJI: The Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) in association with the department of public health dentistry, Goa Dental College and Hospital commemorated ‘World No Tobacco Day’ by organising the 4th Goa Anti-Tobacco Film Festival.
Dr Amita Kenkre Kamat said that the festival aims to spread the message of the harmful effects of tobacco use and also to decrease the occurrence of oral cancer in Goa.
Oncologist Dr Shekhar Salkar said that the law should be strict to decrease the use of tobacco. “Cinema is a powerful medium through which audience grasp maximum and it has a big impact, and people have become aware of the ill-effects of tobacco,” he added.
Director of health services Dr Geeta Kakodkar spoke about what the directorate of health services is doing to prevent the use of tobacco. “These films will be used for promotions of ad campaigns of anti-tobacco in cinema theatres across Goa, TV channels, schools, colleges and other government department programmes,” she said.
The competition was held in two sections — national section ad films and Goan section ad films. The organisers received a total of nine entries in the national section and ten entries in the Goan section.
The jury panel consisted of NCDC nodal officer Dr Kedar Raikar; professor, department of prosthodontics, Goa Dental College and Hospital, Dr Ivy Coutinho, and film critic Sachin Chatte.
The award-winning films were screened for the public following the prize distribution.
