Amlendu Bhushan Khan / New Delhi : Tobacco consumption in India decreased from 34.6% to 28.6 percent during 2009-10 to 2016-17. Global Adult Tobacco Survey, conducted by the Union Health Ministry with the partnership of Tata Institute of Social Sciences, has attributed the decline to the Centre’s tobacco control programme.
“I am happy that tobacco users have reduced by 81 lakhs and youth consumption of tobacco sees marked decrease”, says Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda.
The study showed that there has been a 54% relative reduction in prevalence of tobacco use among minors (15-17 years) and 28% reduction in the age group of 18-24 years. Further, age of initiation among youth has also increased by one year.
Tobacco usage among minors aged 15-17 years has also decreased from 10% in 2009-10 to 4% in 2016-17. “This is a significant decline in the tobacco use in the country,” said Dr T Sundararaman, dean of the School of Health Systems, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
The study was conducted among people above the age of 15 years in 30 states and two Union Territories. A total of 74, 037 people were interviewed during August 2016 to February 2017.
The survey also showed that 19% of men, 12.8% of women and 21.4% of all adults surveyed currently use tobacco products including smoking and smokeless tobacco. Khaini and bidi were the most commonly used tobacco products. “The results are extremely encouraging and we should go forward in the direction (of tobacco control),” said JP Nadda, Minister of Health and Family Welfare.
The average age at which people start using tobacco products has increased by a year, from approximately 17 years in 2009-10 to 18 years in 2016-17. Further, the researchers said that 62% of cigarette smokers, 54% of bidi smokers and 46% of smokeless tobacco users had considered quitting because of the warning labels on the packets
Shri J P Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare was conferred the WHO Director-General’s Special Recognition Award for global tobacco control, here today. The global recognition was presented to him by Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia at the ‘National Consultation on Accelerating Implementation of WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) for achievement of SDGs’. Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste and Smt Anupriya Patel, Ministers of State for Health & Family Welfare, were also present at the occasion.
“Tobacco is a prime driver of poverty and it affects the family as a whole, the community and the country and requires a multisectoral approach to control it. It has rightly been identified as a development issue” says Nadda.
Nadda said that India has come a long way in controlling the use of tobacco. “We have implemented large pack warnings with 85% pictorial health warnings on both the sides, conducted second round of Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), strengthened & upscaled cessation facilities with the launch of the toll-free national tobacco Quitline and mCessation services and have made substantial investment under the 12th Five Year Plan for expansion of National Tobacco Control Programme – which has been recognized by WHO as a best practice in its Global Tobacco Control report, 2015,” Shri Nadda informed. The Health Minister further said that India has also put a ban on smokeless tobacco products and has strengthened the implementation of the Tobacco Free film and television policy.
Speaking at the function, Faggan Singh Kulaste Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare, stated that there is a need for a social movement with all the stakeholders including states participating in it for controlling the tobacco use. Kulaste reiterated the importance of awareness campaigns about tobacco use in schools and colleges in both rural and urban areas. He further said that alternative job/employment avenues for tobacco growers needs to be thought of and deliberated upon.
Anupriya Patel, Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare, stated that with 27 crore users, tobacco consumption in India is second largest in the world. She said that the Centre and State must have dedicated tobacco control cells. Anupriya Patel also highlighted the measures taken by the Ministry through FSSAI to control tobacco use.
Congratulating the Union Minister of Health, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia said, “Nadda has accelerated India’s tobacco control initiatives and taken bold measures to protect people against multiple health, economic, social and development hazards of tobacco use.” Speaking on the occasion, she stated that more than 100 million lives have been lost to tobacco in the 20th Century. She stressed on the tobacco control at the initial stages and said that more focus should be on youngsters.
