Dr Pawan Singhal of Jaipur’s SMS Medical College mentors future tobacco control leaders

Jaipur: Head and neck surgery specialist Dr Pawan Singhal (in photo), a senior professor at SMS Medical College, has been selected as a mentor for the ‘Ascend: Leadership Development for the Future of Tobacco Control' programme offered by Institute for Global Tobacco Control at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr Singhal is the first doctor from SMS Hospital to mentor an intern focused on tobacco control.Uma Gupta, an Ascend programme participant, has started internship at SMS Medical College from Oct 1, and it will continue till Dec 20. "She will assist in community visits, conduct general public awareness and sensitisation and assist with collection and analysis of data and publications," said Dr Singhal, who has been actively involved in tobacco control initiatives alongside his duties as a senior professor at SMS Medical College.Dr Singhal expressed concern for oral cancer patients who had been tobacco users. "A lot of people become oral cancer patients due to tobacco consumption. While performing surgeries, I feel bad for these patients. These cases could have been prevented had they not consumed tobacco," he said.The Ascend leadership programme aims at inspiring a deep passion for tobacco control in future leaders from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) that bear the largest burden of tobacco-related death and disease. The programme seeks to channel future leaders' frustrations about injustices and inequities, particularly those caused by the tobacco industry, and equip them with new skills and opportunities to contribute to the global tobacco control community and sustain the tobacco control movement."The internship is designed to provide interns with hands-on experience and training related to tobacco control and is intended for educational purposes," said Dr Singhal.
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