Cloud of smoke over Mumbai’s youth

How do you prevent the spread of tobacco-related cancer?  Experts say creating a cent per cent smoke-free environment is the only solution as there cannot be any safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke.

Keeping this in mind, the Tata Memorial Hospital, in association with the International Union Against Cancer (UICC), kicked off its ‘I love my smoke-free childhood’ campaign on Monday. The campaign, also joined by the Salaam Bombay Trust, is targeting the youth since more than 700 million children breathe air polluted by tobacco smoke.

Experts believe that the young in India are increasingly falling into the tobacco trap. According to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), supported by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, 54 per cent of students who smoke their first cigarette do so before they are 10. A sample of 12,086 students was surveyed for the study.

The study points out that more than 2 in 10 students in Mumbai currently use some form of tobacco. Of these 15.6 per cent smoke cigarettes while 15.9 per cent use other forms of tobacco. The five reasons for the growing use of tobacco  are ease of access, availability and price, environmental tobacco smoke exposure (ETS), the media, and advertising.

There is going to be an addition of a whopping 15.1 per cent students to the ranks of tobacco users by next year, says the report. This is where doctors believe peer pressure comes into play. “Peer education is a very important tool,” says Dr Surendra Shastri, professor and head of preventive oncology at Tata Memorial.

“Education, legislation and taxation by the government should be judiciously combined to achieve a smoke-free environment.”

But the macho image associated with smoking drives many youngsters to get into some form of tobacco use. According to the  survey, 32.2 per cent of boys and 16.8 per cent of girls think that those who smoke have more friends. Further, the study claims that 30 per cent  of boys and 19.9 per cent of girls think that those who smoke look more attractive.

BMC executive health officer Dr Jairaj Thanekar says educating school students alone may not free the youth from tobacco. “There are many who work as vendors or do small-time jobs and the challenge is to reach them,” he says.

A large share of the blame goes to parents who smoke within the house. This fact is supported by the GYTS, which indicates that over 3 in 10 students live in homes where others smoke. About 35 per cent have one or more parents who smoke and almost 6 per cent have friends who do so.

Dr KA Dinshaw, director, Tata Memorial Centre, says, “Children who spend time in the company of parents and teachers who are smokers are the worst sufferers of respiratory diseases, eye and skin diseases, and growth disorders.”

Meanwhile, a ray of hope emanates from the fact that more than three-quarters of the current smokers want to give up the habit, and 55.5 per cent have tried to do so at least once.

d_sumitra@dnaindia.net