Tobacco use dips 6% as country kicks the butt

The nation has seen a decline in tobacco consumption in the last decade, says a global survey commissioned by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a US organistion to curb spread of ailments.

The results of the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATs), released during an awareness programme at the Tata Memorial Centre on Friday, revealed that usage in India fell from 34.6% in 2009 to 28.6% in 2018.

The study included all forms of tobacco across 30 countries.

Krishna Mohan Palipudi, team lead of Global Tobacco Surveillance System which conducted the survey for CDC, said, "Tobacco usage which takes most lives in India has reduced by six percent in the last 10 years. We will release our full report on Saturday."

As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), around 1.3 million people die every year in the country due to tobacco consumption. "Around Rs 1,00,000 crore is spent by central and state governments on treatments of tobacco-related diseases. Revenue from sale of tobacco is only 17% of this," said Vineet Gill of WHO India.

Maharashtra health minister Eknath Shinde, with whom the results were shared, said: "Smoking has reduced in the state due to our de-addiction centres."

In the state, there are 309 tobacco de-addiction centers set up at the district level under the tobacco control programme. 

The government authorities have stated that they are using social media as a tool to create awareness, as it is one of the major areas which influences the youth. 

MAHA HABIT

• 309 de-addiction centres set up in Maha districts to check habit 
   
• 1.42 lakh people counselled in state in 2018; 6,324 kicked habit  
   
• Social media outreach needed to cut tobacco use