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units across India is largely funded

by similar field projects. Kousalya

spends half her time travelling and

ensuring these and other activities

awareness-raising and lobbying

authorities, counselling, providing

treatment and legal aid, and PWNs

many employment schemes aredone with both heart and mind.

Meanwhile, one lady, now a mature

and busy 34-year-old, recalls the day

she stepped tentatively into PWNs

Chennai office. I met Kousalya and

the other women there and theyve

since been my family, says D. Pad-

mavathy. As president of PWNs

Tamil Nadu state unit for the past

three years, Padmavathy has also

grown in confidence and skills, hav-

ing helped rehabilitate innumerable

women like herself just the way

her mentor Kousalya had envisioned.

B y g i t a n a r a y a n a n

BUNgoNRiTHiPHAKDEE

Fighting th endlssWa Against TobaccoIt has been more than 20 years since

Bungon Rithiphakdee stood on

the frontline of the unspoken war

between influential tobacco con-

glomerates and the tobacco control

network.

The crisis started in 1986 when the

United States forced Thailand to open

up its cigarette market. As a result,

the then Anti-Smoking Campaign

Project (now Action on Smoking and

Health Foundation Thailand) had to

accelerate its multiple projects. Bun-

gon, who was the project manager,

dedicated herself to this job; she

conducted research, created strong

networks, cooperated with the media

and created domestic as well as inter-

national alliances.

Her dedication paid off and many

other agencies started to play a

more active role in the war against

tobacco. Bungon then started to look

at neighbouring countries that werestill facing similar problems, believ-

ing that working together would

strengthen tobacco control in the

region. She established the South-

east Asia Tobacco Control Alliance

(SEATCA) and assumed the post of

coordinator in 2001.

Her main responsibility in the

organisation was to facilitate sharing

of expertise and best practices as well

as to look for funds. SEATCA has four

areas of responsibility: public policydevelopment, capacity building for

local partners, best practices sharing

and generating local evidence.

A graduate from the Faculty of

Arts, Chula longkorn University, Bun-

gon does not have a diploma in public

health. What she does have is a strong

interest in working for the good of

society. She believes that in order to

promote health, you have to look into

the social aspects of the problem.

The number of smokers world-

wide now number 1.2 billion people,

half of whom are in Asia. In ASEAN

alone, there are 120 million smokers.

Statistics from World Health Organi-

zation (WHO) show that at present,

as many as 5 million people die of

tobacco-related diseases every year,

thats around 14,000 dai ly. [Tobacco

companies] are only concerned with

expanding their tobacco market for

the sake of profit although they are

well aware of its deadly dangers,

Bungon says.

Bungon received a prestigious

award from WHO in 2001 and the

Luther Terry Award from the Amer-

ican Cancer Society in 2006. Despitethe recognition, Bungon, who is now

the director of SEATCA, says she

remains in the frontline of an endless

war. Cigarette producers are always

active and they are now employ-

ing new methods in order to expand

their market, including interfering

in public policy and tobacco control

legislation.

Their latest attempt is to make use

of social networks, which proves to

be a legal loophole in many countries.Despite all the problems, I always

enjoy my work, backed up by a strong

belief that I am doing the right thing

for the whole society, says Bungon.

For more information, please visit

SEATCA (seatca.org).

B y n u c h a n a d n e t P r a s e r t s r i

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