India: Time To Say ‘No’ To Tobacco

Source from:  The Hindu 05/31/2019

Despite awareness drive, its consumption is on the rise.

Tobacco consumption is on the rise notwithstanding the awareness campaigns being organised by the government. A stroll down the city roads, before they are swept clean by sanitary workers, is enough to understand the gravity of the problem.

The ubiquitous empty gutka and khaini satchets, lying beside the roads and in the ‘green belt’ area and medians, indicate the increasing consumption of chewing tobacco. Though cigarette smoking seems to be on the decline, still some youth are picking up the habit through friends and social circles.

Passive smoking

A smoker not only damages his own health but also endangers the life of those around him by turning them into ‘passive smokers’ as the latter are forced to inhale the smoke. It’s not uncommon to see young men, especially auto drivers, popping out chewing tobacco sachets and emptying the contents into their mouth, aping the style of the star in advertisements.

“The rate of tobacco-related deaths, which was about 1.4 % in 1990 in India, has gone up to 13.3 %. Statistics indicate that one in five, and one in three persons, consumes tobacco in urban and rural areas respectively,” says Dr. Voona Muralikrishna, MD of Mahatma Gandhi Cancer Hospital and Research Institute (MGCHRI).

“Cigarette smoking is more in urban areas, while gutka and khaini are more common in the rural areas. As many as 50 % of the total cancers are caused by either direct or indirect use of tobacco, which makes it the second largest cause of human deaths,” he says.

“The increase in the incidence of tobacco-related diseases may be due to increased awareness and more people seeking medical attention unlike in the past. We are even providing expensive inhalers free of cost to needy patients, depending on their requirement,” says G. Sambasiva Rao, Superintendent of the Government Hospital for Chest Diseases.

“Direct and passive smoking can also cause serious effects on various health aspects of people like lung cancer, asthma, COPD (bronchitis) and TB. Around 120 million adult males are active tobacco addicts in India, and among them 70 % use smokeless tobacco,” according to K.S. Phaneendra Kumar, consultant pulmonologist of KIMS ICON Hospital.

“Tobacco is the main cause of lung cancer, COPD, heart diseases, brain stroke, skin, pancreatic and stomach cancers. Tobacco smoke has over 7,000 chemical, of which around 100 are proved to be carcinogenic,” he adds.  Enditem