Keeping tobacco harm on the public agenda.
Carmine supported a sustained awareness and advocacy programme on tobacco-related harm, keeping young people's health and the need for protective action at the centre of the conversation.
The challenge
The mandate was to build public and policy momentum for stronger action on tobacco-related harm in Maharashtra. It focused on children's and adolescents' exposure and health risks, explained by medical experts.
The challenge extended beyond a single awareness day or a short burst of news coverage. The issue had to stay relevant through changes in political leadership, shifting priorities and opposition from industry interests.
The strategic choice
Carmine focused on public health, youth vulnerability and clinical evidence. Expert voices gave the argument substance; sustained media engagement kept it visible. The wider programme also connected prevention with everyday community settings, including tobacco-free festivals.
What Carmine did
Led with evidence and expert voices — used clinical evidence and expert voices to explain young people's vulnerability.
Sustained media engagement — kept prevention and protective action visible through print and television outreach.
Connected key stakeholders — connected medical experts, non-governmental organisations and legislators around a consistent public-health message.
What the work achieved
The programme achieved sustained coverage across national newspapers and Hindi and Marathi television over multiple years. Selected examples show a continuing public conversation around youth tobacco and nicotine exposure, prevention and community participation, including reporting on e-cigarette exposure among young people and tobacco-free community initiatives.
This evidence demonstrates the breadth and duration of the wider tobacco-awareness programme; it is not presented as a single, quantifiable policy outcome.
Selected media coverage
ABP Majha
Marathi-language coverage included in the tobacco-awareness campaign archive.
Mumbai Mirror
Coverage of tobacco-free community festival initiatives.
The Times of India
Coverage of a study on e-cigarettes and youth exposure.
Hindustan Times
Reporting on youth nicotine exposure.
Selected coverage from the wider tobacco-awareness programme — these examples cover youth nicotine exposure and community prevention.
Public-health advocacy needs continuity, not a single moment of attention. Keeping an issue relevant requires evidence, credible voices and a connection to the communities whose health is at stake.