Maharashtra govt wakes up to growing tobacco use

Shambu Sahu, 26, an engineer, did not know that chewing gutkha occasionally could cause so much trouble. “I chewed gutkha once in a while with my friends whenever we would meet. I soon got addicted to it,” he said.

Despite being addicted to it for a very short period of time, he fell prey to cancer and is being treated at the Tata Memorial hospital.
Expressing a great deal of concern about the increase in smoking adolescents, the joint secretary from the Union ministry of health and family welfare, BK Prasad, launched a campaign for tobacco control.

On Tuesday, Prasad inaugurated the function at the Tata Memorial hospital and made singer Shaan the brand ambassador. “The global adult survey shows that tobacco consumption in youths in increasing. Almost 14.6% of youths aged between 13 and 15 are consuming tobacco,” said Prasad.

Prasad said that they plan to start sensitising programmes at rural schools within the National Rural Health Mission. He added that a national helpline — 180110456 — can be used by citizens to complain about anyone who is violating the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, including smoking in public.
Every year, nearly 10,000 patients in TMH can be attributed to tobacco consumption, said Dr Rajendra Badwe, TMH medical director. Badwe added, “50% of the chronic diseases will be wiped off if we wipe off tobacco. This includes hypertension, cancer and cardiovascular diseases.” He added that the tobacco control programme should be more “inclusive” and that the farmers growing tobacco should be given alternative cash crops to grow.

A few patients of Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, a surgeon in the hospital, came forward to appeal to the youngsters to not take up tobacco. Many of them had muffled voices and their words could barely be understood.

An ex-customs commissioner, Deepak Kumar, also came forward and spoke about his harrowing experience in consumer court when he sued a cigarette company for his illness.