Mangaluru: A Campco delegation comprising president Kishore Kumar Kodgi, managing director BV Sathyanarayana and ARDF executive officer Keshav Bhat, met Dr Soumya Swaminathan, former chief scientist of the World Health Organisation, at the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai on Friday. The delegation engaged in in-depth discussions, emphasising that the WHO‘s classification of arecanut as carcinogenic significantly impacted the livelihoods of lakhs of arecanut farmers.
The Campco delegation also presented more than 20 research studies indicating that arecanut is not carcinogenic, and has anti-cancer properties. Dr Soumya Swaminathan understood the farmers’ problems and suggested presenting such reliable data to the International Agency for Cancer Research (IARC) and World Health Organisation (WHO) through the govt of India, for reviewing their observation on the carcinogenicity of arecanut. She assured her support for the farmers, including advocating for discussions with the ministries of agriculture and health and family welfare, stated a release.
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