Sincere efforts never go in vain is the adage that Rajasthan govt has lived by in going all out to tame the beast of tobacco. The vigilance & deftness practiced in enforcing regulations has finally reaped fruits. Amit Bhatt smokes out the matter
At a time when number of deaths caused by cancer continue to be a matter of concern among governments and health experts, Rajasthan has recorded a significant decrease in overall tobacco consumption including smoking and smokeless tobacco use. The second edition of the Global Adults Tobacco Survey (GATS 2) revealed that tobacco consumption has been the main reason of oral cancer during last seven years.
According to Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS-2) released by state health minister Kalicharan Saraf here on Monday, consumption of smokeless tobacco such as khaini and gutkha went down by 4.8 per cent from 18.9 in 2009-10 to 14.1 in 2016-17 and smoking went down by 5.6 per cent from 18.8 to 13.2. From GATS 1 to GATS 2, the prevalence of any tobacco use has also significantly decreased by 7.6 percentage points from 32.3 per cent in GATS 1 to 24.7 per cent in GATS 2.
“It is the efforts made by the state government that is reflecting in GATS 2,” Saraf said. Though he denied any possibility of total tobacco ban in the state. “Ban (on tobacco) is not a solution as it involves the risks of malpractices such as smuggling and black marketing. We are committed to reduce tobacco consumption and for that awareness will be spread at the grassroots,” said Saraf.
As per the survey, bidi and gutka are the two most commonly used tobacco products in the state as 11.4 per cent of adults smoke bidi and 9.0 per cent of adults use gutka. The mean age for initiation of tobacco use has increased from 17.0 years in GATS1 to 18.4 years in GATS 2.
Principal secretary, health, Veenu Gupta said that the actions should be taken considering the youth between the age group of 18 to 35 years. She also suggested that at the places in the state where manufacturing is associated with people’s livelihood, bidi workers should to be trained for alternative means of living through skill development.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Tobacco-Day")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}