Bangalore: Fortis Hospitals, Bangalore conducted a 4km cyclothon in a partnership with Go Green Go Cycling on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day(31st May) and World Environment Day (June 5). The cyclothon kicked-off and concluded at Fortis Hospitals, Cunningham road with an aim to create awareness on choosing a healthy lifestyle and being environment friendly.

Around 200 cyclists became part of the cyclothon.

Dr KS Satish, Consultant, Pulmonology, Fortis Hospitals, Cunningham road, said, “Adopting healthy activities like cycling is always appreciated. Early morning fitness routine helps stay away from respiratory problems. Moreover, cycling does a complete workout for heart, blood vessels and lungs along with cardiovascular diseases. It helps you breathe deeper, perspire and experience increased body temperature, which will improve your overall fitness level.”

Adding towards ill effects of smoking which has been hampering people’s health, Dr Sudarshan KS, Assistant Consultant, Pulmonology, Fortis Hospitals, Cunningham road expressed, “The younger generation today is more prone to lung problems because of increased addiction of tobacco and lesser involvement in physical activities. Adoption of healthy lifestyle will somewhere keep them safe and away from diseases.”

As per GATS (2016-17), there has been a decrease in the prevalence of tobacco use in India by six percentage points as compared to GATS (2009-10). The number of tobacco users has reduced by about 81lakh. The National Health Policy of 2017 of Government of India has set the target of relative reduction in prevalence of current tobacco use by 15% by 2020 and 30% by 2025. GATS-2 shows a relative reduction of 17% in prevalence of current tobacco use since GATS-1.

Mr GoGreen Rao president of, GO Green Go Cycling, said, “We are glad to be a part of this environment friendly initiative by Fortis Hospitals, Bangalore. Healthy events like this would encourage people to take up exercises like cycling to be fit without much expense or causing any harm to the environment”.

Fortis Hospitals has been taking several initiatives towards educating and encouraging people to adopt healthy means of living. This is another step for the larger cause.

“Go Green for a better tomorrow, Go Cycling”.