Sunita Tomar, who shot to prominence as the face of an anti-tobacco campaign, died after a long battle with mouth cancer in a Mumbai hospital on Wednesday, just two days after expressing her shock at BJP MP Dilip Kumar Gandhi's contention that there were no Indian studies to show tobacco caused cancer and other diseases.
Tomar, 28, died at the Tata Memorial Hospital at 4am, the Indian Express reported. Doctors treating her said they suspected she had suffered a relapse of mouth cancer.
Two days before she died, Tomar wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to express her shock at the statement by Gandhi, chairman of Lok Sabha's Committee of Subordinate Legislations, that there are no Indian studies linking tobacco to cancer.
"Recently Dilip Gandhi, chairman of a parliamentary panel, wrote to the Health Ministry asking for the notification on bigger tobacco pack warnings to be kept in abeyance. I was shocked that people in such high posts can be so irresponsible," she wrote.
"Bigger warnings can probably save some innocent lives like mine. You have started to take people along in your Mann Ki Baat where you recently talked about de-addiction. I hope you will also take up the cause of tobacco," she added.
Pankaj Chaturvedi, head and neck surgeon at the Tata Memorial Hospital, where Tomar was admitted three days ago, was quoted as saying: "Sunita came to us three days back with breathing difficulty and weight loss. She had lost 12kg. We were suspecting a relapse. She was just 28 and mother of two young kids.
Video of the anti-tobacco campaign
"Though she is only one of the 10 lakh Indians who die every year because of tobacco, I am sure her campaign must have saved millions from picking up the habit. She made me promise that we will continue our battle and she also wrote a letter to PM Modi to share her personal tragedy," he said.
The Union health ministry postponed a decision to introduce new graphic health warnings that cover 85% of tobacco packages on both sides from April 1 based on the report of the parliamentary panel chaired by Gandhi, the MP from Ahmednagar in Maharashtra. Along with Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra is one of the major tobacco-growing states of India.
As part of the "Lives Bachao Size Badhao" public awareness campaign that pushed for larger and stronger pictorial warning on tobacco products, Tomar had collected 38,740 signatures through an online and offline petition for implementing the larger health warnings on tobacco packages. The petition was submitted to Union health minister JP Nadda last month.
During an appearance at the unveiling of the anti-tobacco campaign featuring her, Tomar had said she began using tobacco at the age of 22. Four years later, she developed a blister that was diagnosed as cancer, she said.
The wife of a driver, Tomar had to have an entire cheek and her jaw removed. She was treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
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