Bangalore, November 26, 2020 – In an effort to increase awareness about the various health risks associated with the usage of tobacco, Aster CMI Hospital has launched a Smoking Cessation Clinic to aid people who are addicted to smoking and chewing of tobacco or other tobacco containing products in quitting the harmful habit. The Smoking Cessation Clinic will be held on all Friday, 4:00 – 5:00 pm at Aster CMI Hospital in Hebbal.

People who wish to quit tobacco consumption or smoking will undergo a detailed evaluation during this session. The clinic will analyse the severity of their addiction and will assess their current lung-function. A smoking cessation clinic can be an easy and effective way to treat tobacco use and dependence. The clinic will provide consultation from doctors and will also offer both counselling and pharmacological options to those who are attempting to stop tobacco use. It will provide intensive treatments to smokers who are motivated to quit smoking and aims to ensure a high success rate among the people who are addicted to tobacco use.

Speaking on the launch of the clinic, Dr. Sunil Kumar K, Lead & Senior Consultant, Interventional Pulmonology, Aster CMI Hospital, said: “As per a recent report by Global Adult Tobacco Survey 2, in India currently 28.6% (266.8 million) of adults aged 15 and above are addicted to tobacco in some form. The study further highlights that among these individuals, 24.9% (232.4 million) of the adults are daily tobacco consumers while 3.7% (34.4 million) are occasional consumers.This research also highlights that every tenth adult in India smokes tobacco which indicates how tobacco use is fast becoming a cause of concern for the country.

Tobacco use has now become a leading cause of pre-mature deaths and has become a major public health challenge. Even though many people are aware that tobacco use can increase the risk of cancer, however, there are still a lot of gaps on the other associated risks which this harmful habit can trigger. Therefore, with the launch of this Smoking Cessation Clinic, we at Aster CMI Hospital are strengthening our commitment to expand the reach of preventive healthcare and play a greater part in helping the public in curbing this illicit habit and enable them to take back the control of their lives.”

Sharing his views, Dr. Srivatsa Lokeshwaran, Consultant – Interventional Pulmonology,said: “The covid-19 crisis has made us realize the importance of living a healthy life. Recent studies have highlighted that smoke affected lungs find it harder to fight the coronavirus which makes smokers vulnerable to covid-19 virus. Smokers are currently at a much higher risk of developing a severe disease with Covid-19 virus.  Thus, for smokers and people who are addicted to tobacco, the pandemic is perhaps the best time to start afresh and quit smoking. The beneficial effects after quitting smoking can be felt as early as 20 minutes where one’s elevated heart rate and blood pressure drops.

Furthermore, within 2 to12 weeks, both the blood circulation and lung function improves and after 1-9 months coughing and shortness of breath decreases. After 10 years, their risk of lung cancer also falls to about half and the risk of many other cancers is reduced. Tobacco cessation can certainly benefit an individual’s health and can also have an overall benefit on the country’s economy by reducing the burden on the healthcare expenditure.”

Every year, globally, the month of November is observed as the Lung Cancer Awareness Month to raise awareness about this menacing disease and to provide aid to those who are suffering from it. With over 2 million new cases detected every year, Lung cancer is the most common cancer worldwide and people who smoke regularly are at an increased risk of developing lung cancer.  Therefore, as the number of incidences are increasing every year, prevention has become more important than cure and only through proactive actions and regular interventions taken to increase public awareness, we as a society can put a complete stop to smoking and consumption of tobacco.

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Tobacco use and smoking increases the risk of cancer. Smoking damages nearly every organ in the human body causing many diseases -especially it is linked to at least 10 different cancers.

India is the second largest global producer and third-largest consumer of tobacco and has more than 200 million tobacco users. Of these, nearly 17 million are under the age of 25. India accounts for nearly a third of an estimated three million tobacco-related deaths in the world (per year). WHO reports suggests that 65% of all Indian men use at least one form of tobacco. For women, the usage statistics differed from 15% in rural Gujarat to 67% in Andhra Pradesh.

India has one of the highest rates of oral cancer in the world and rates are still increasing. This disproportionate incidence of oral cancer has been related to the high proportion of tobacco chewers, a habit unique to Indians. Twenty percent of the total tobacco consumed in India is in the form of cigarettes, about 40% is in the form of bidis and the remaining 40% is consumed as smokeless tobacco (in the form of chewing tobacco, pan masala, snuff, gutkha, masheri and tobacco toothpaste).

More than 4,000 individual chemicals have been identified in tobacco and tobacco smoke. Among these are more than 60 chemicals that are known carcinogens (cancer-causing agents). Some of the compounds found in tobacco smoke include ammonia, tar, and carbon monoxide. Nicotine is the addictive drug in tobacco. It is as addictive as heroin and cocaine. The body becomes physically and psychologically dependent on nicotine. In one regular cigarette, the amount of nicotine ranges between about 1 mg and 2 mg, an average dose for snuff is 3.6 mg, for chewing tobacco, 4.6 mg.

Smoking and cancer

Smoking damages nearly every organ in the human body causing many diseases. Smoking is linked to at least 10 different cancers.(Major cause: Cancers of the lung, larynx, oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, and bladder. Contributing cause: Cancers of the pancreas, cervix, kidney, stomach, and also some leukemias.)It accounts for some 30% of all cancer deaths. About 87% of lung cancer deaths are caused by smoking. The risk of having lung cancer and other smoking-related cancers is related to total lifetime exposure to cigarette smoke. This is measured by   number of cigarettes smoked each day, the age at which smoking began the number of years a person has smoked. There is no way to accurately calculate a person’s risk of getting cancer, but the more you smoke and the longer you do it, the greater your risk. Bidis have all of the same health risks of regular cigarettes.

Even though bidis contain less tobacco than regular cigarettes, they have higher levels of nicotine and other harmful substances such as tar and carbon monoxide.They are thinner than regular cigarettes, so they require about 3 times as many puffs per cigarette. They are also unfiltered. There is a belief that cigar smoking is more “civilized” and “glamorous,” as well as less dangerous than cigarette smoking.

But actual fact is a single large cigar can contain as much tobacco as an entire pack of cigarettes. Similarly hookahs are considered as safe alternative to cigarettes. But the water in hook has does not filter out many of the toxins. Hookah smoke has been shown to contain concentrations of toxins, such as carbon monoxide, nicotine, “tar,” and heavy metals, that are as high or higher than are seen with cigarette smoke.Hookah is also linked to other unique risks not associated with cigarette smoking like infectious diseases (including tuberculosis, hepatitis, and HIV)

Another important aspect which we should be aware of is secondhand smoke, also known as environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) or passive smoke. It is a mixture of 2 forms of smoke from burning tobacco products, Side stream smoke that comes from the end of a lighted cigarette, pipe, or cigar and Mainstream smoke, smoke that is exhaled by a smoker. Nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke absorb nicotine and other toxic chemicals just as smokers do. The greater the exposure to secondhand smoke, the greater the level of these harmful chemicals in your body. Three locations where you should be especially concerned about exposure to secondhand smoke are  Your workplace, Public places,Your home. In-fact making your home smoke-free is perhaps one of the most important things you can do for the health of your family.

USE OF SMOKELESS TOBACCO AND CANCER

The most serious health effect of smokeless tobacco is an increased risk of cancer of the mouth and pharynx. A report in the Journal of the American Medical Association calculated that smokeless tobacco users ,who chew 8-10 times a day might be exposed to the same amount of nicotine as people who smoke 30-40 cigarettes a day.”As health experts know that children started using smokeless tobacco six or seven years ago, they fear an epidemic of oral cancer will soon hit India. There are various reasons for this. Most people have no idea that consuming smokeless tobacco is as dangerous as smoking. They are often used in social gatherings.

Gutkha, does not say it contains tobacco.Packets of pan masala do bear health warnings, but they are rendered almost invisible by the bright shiny packaging and the small size of the warnings. Consequently, unlike smoking, which must be hidden from adults, children can openly consume pan masalas and many a times are introduced to this by elders in the family.

 CHILDREN AND TOBACCO

Children and teens are easy targets for the tobacco industry.Children are heavily influenced by TV, movies, advertising, and by what their friends do and say. But despite this parents can be THE GREATEST INFLUENCE in their kids’ lives. SO Keep Your Kids  away from Starting by setting you as an example. Talk directly to your children about the risks of tobacco use; if friends or relatives suffer with or died from tobacco-related illnesses, let your kids know.

 QUITING TOBACCO

Seventy percent of smokers want to quit and 35% attempt to quit each year, fewer than 5% succeed. The argument that it is too late to quit tobacco because the damage is already done is not true.It is never too late to quit

Dr.Geetha Narayan
Vydehi Hospital
Whitefield, Bengaluru-560066
ph:080-28413381/02/03

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The major focus of this workshop was to sensitize the NSS Program Officers and volunteers about the tobacco epidemic to prevent initiation of tobacco consumption among youth. NSS Program Officers and student volunteers from 100 colleges participated in the program. An action plan was developed for all colleges of RGUHS. Starting from making their own colleges tobacco free, other anti-tobacco activities such as pledge taking, street plays, poster & debate competitions etc. were also part of the action plan.

Dr. S. Sacchidan and, Vice Chancellor, RGUHS said, “Being a Health Sciences University, we are concerned about the health hazards due to tobacco use. Protecting our future generations from tobacco is very crucial and preventing tobacco initiation among youth is the key to counter this public health threat. Youth must be actively participating in anti-tobacco activities.

In Karnataka, there are more than 2500 NSS Units with 3.7 lac volunteers. This campaign will cover all Universities of Karnataka with goal of reducing the tobacco prevalence.

Dr Vivek Shetty, Cancer Surgeon of Narayana Health City, Bengaluru and a patron of the Voice of Tobacco Victims (VoTV) says, “Youth has a lot of energy and it must be channelized in the right direction. We can have a healthy society if our youngsters do not fall prey to products such as tobacco, which cause only death and disability. 90% of oral cancers are due to tobacco consumption”. He further added that NSS can contribute significantly in preventing the youth from tobacco use. About 293 children initiate tobacco use everyday in Karnataka with 56000 deaths every year. Unfortunately, more than 50% of oral cancer patients who undergo surgery do not survive beyond a year.

During the program, teachers and students also took an anti-tobacco pledge that they will never touch tobacco in their lives and will encourage their family and friends not to do so. As per the 2017 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS),1.03 crore people use tobacco in Karnataka. 90% of the users initiate tobacco use in their teens.

Speaking at the Workshop, Dr. Vasantha B. Shetty, NSS Program Coordinator, RGHUS, said, “We have 175 NSS Units with 17,000 volunteers in RGHUS. The workshop has really guided us about the action plan against this public health issue. NSS can significantly contribute to this. An evil which kills 56,000 people every year in Karnataka, we must work to get rid of it. Anti-tobacco activities such as pledge for life, drawing & debate competitions, etc will also bring about positive social behaviour change in youngsters.”

‘Pledge for life’ campaign is rolling with NSS in many other states in India to curb tobacco usages among youth. NSS has total   volunteers in all over India who will be leading the campaign to fight against tobacco epidemic.

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While speaking of the numerous ways in which tobacco is murdering us daily, its relationship with cancer undoubtedly tops the list. Tobacco smoking is the most common cause of lung cancer, causing roughly 1.2 million lung cancer deaths every year. Tobacco is deadly in any form and threatens the lung health of everyone exposed to it. Every year, more than 1 million deaths take place because of second-hand smoke. Apart from lung cancer, tobacco smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke are also major risk factors for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), tuberculosis (TB), asthma, etc. The millions of deaths caused by tobacco-related respiratory disease are distressing, but even more distressing is the tremendous suffering caused by these illnesses, affecting the quality of life of people of all ages.

While the campaign this year aims to raise awareness on the harmful and deadly effects of tobacco use and advocating for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption, it needs to be collective social effort across multiple sectors in the fight for tobacco control. Specifically, it is important to implement and enforce the most effective tobacco control policies aimed at reducing the supply and demand for tobacco. Limiting or taxing access and high- touch awareness campaigns to make tobacco unappealing to the younger generations are imperative in this fight against tobacco.  This could change the paradigm. The next generation should ask: “what do I gain from enjoying tobacco?” versus “what do I lose from using tobacco?”

In our fight against lung cancer, prevention is the surest weapon.  Tobacco is one of the oldest known carcinogens, which means its ability to cause cancer has been clearly studied and proven.  There is no excuse to allow its use and sympathize with its deadly impact of cancer.

This World No Tobacco Day, let us ask not only of the cigarette and bidi smoker and consumer of paan and gutkha, to use their sheer willpower and give up tobacco once and for all; let us also ask the manufacturers, marketers, and distributors of tobacco to redirect their business once and for all.

Gitika Srivastava,
Founder of Navya,

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As per one observation in 2005, Kolkatta had 22,000 lung cancer patents and 18,000 head and throat cancer patients, and every year this number is increased by 6,000 patients. cancer expert Dr. Goutham Mukhopadhyaya declares that, 90% of oral cancer is due to Tobacco. Pankaj Trivedi head and throat Surgeon of Tata Memorial center Mumbai ridicules that, tobacco is the only one consumer good which has no good results. Brook shield exclaims “Tobacco kills. If you die, an invaluable life is lost. David Bairne warns us “real face of Tobacco is disease, death and scare; and it is not alluring or resplendent as announced by advertisements.

In 2010, one million died due to smoking. As per one estimate, 23.7% of men and 5.7% of women die, due to diseases connected with Tobacco. Smoking is the murderer of 90% of men and 80% of women through lungs cancer. Even if people don’t smoke, 6 million die, every year through passive smoking. You might have never touched beedi or cigarette. But as passive smokers, you are forced to inhail the smoke emission from smokers. As per one study, one out of ten die every year due to these habits.

Today there are 13 crore tobacco consumers in this world. If and only if, we can reduce the tobacco consumption from 20% to 25% by 2020, we can save 100 million would be dieing people. During these 55 years, whenever I have questioned, cross section of thousands of people, the reasons they gave, why they use Tobacco are listed as follows. Pressure management, social courtesy or as a mark of prestige and company, improvement of mood, to escape from facing problems, deteriorating health, worsening  family relationships and quarrel, as a mark of manlihood, to swim in imaginary world, to pass time, to ease the bowel, to increase the body health.

The people who have quitted smoking, have experienced following facts. Increase in their weight, decreased ability in management of stress and influence of Negative feelings, Social aloofness, far away from happiness. These experiences may be real or felt. Third person only can recognize, the difference in life of people who have left smoking, and those who have continued smoking, in terms of the general mood, long quality life, satisfaction in life, grasping position of health. Every year, world no Tobacco day is being celebrated on may 31. The purpose is to educate people, on dirty effects of Tobacco and motivate them to move away from Tobacco. On this day every year doctors, hospitals, Health Department of Government, N.G.Os, Teachers, students, parents, institutions which train people to leave Tobacco habits, all join their hands in this movement.

When I was at A.I.R. Bhadravati, I had written and directed the musical feature ‘Hello Mrutyu (Hello death) and enacted role of Yama in this radio broadcast. Putta a rural youth, a simple poor student, comes to the city and joins college. Gradually he is motivated and tempted by his friends, to become slave of smoking, drinking and drugs. When his habits drag him towards death, the God of death comes there, analyses the facts and convinces Putta that, his life or death is driven by his own lifestyle and habits. Due to his dirty habits and addiction, Putta is driven fast towards his death.  Every year on 31^st may, I have presented features, through radio, based on interviews with parents, teachers, women, doctors, Tobacco patients.

When I was at A.I.R Raichur, I have broadcast through Radio and presented on stage, my own written plays, such as Hello death, Adhuinka Asuraru (Modern Demons), Chatadinda Chattakke (From addiction to death). There was a character of one youth, who used to eat Gutka, every morning, even before washing his teeth and face. I had shown, Dhoomrasura (Demon of smoke), Pishachi (Ghost), Surasura (Demon of liquor), Tambakasura (Demon of Tobacco) Ghutkasura (Demon of Ghutka), all tempting youth to consume Beedi, Cigarette, Alcohol and Drugs. A teacher, an ideal youth and a doctor convinces each and every youth, to come away from these addictions, becoming strong minded.

When I was AIR Mysore, I had broadcast experiences of Tobacco consumers, people who had left Tobacco, N.G.Os and Rural women, in educating general public. In 2011 I had gone to villages of Chamarajanagar and recorded strong voices of women, who had organized movements, against smoking and drinking. They had taken public oath, and motivated their husbands, brothers and next door persons, to leave these dirty habits. When silent women opened their voices and the clutches of their united strong voice, became strong, many people left their vices.

Films and smoking:

It has been observed that, youth get tempted and attracted to smoking, through witnessing films. When they see their models, the heroes and heroines showing tobacco on their lips or in their hands, on and off screen and in advertisements, fans want to imitate their models. Based on surveys of cross section of youth, it is very clear that, imitating film and sports popular personalities, is the ideal goal of life for their fans.

A report   released in 2012 by surgeon general says, 6.4 million children have been addicted to smoking, influenced by films. In this, 2 million children are going to be affected by tobacco related diseases, and they are cutting down their life age and going to face their pre – death age.

In Bollywood films, 76% highlight tobacco and 72% show cigarettes. Before 1990 decade, cigarettes were on the lips of villains on screen. But from 2002, even heroes, character artists are smoking and chewing tobacco in 53% of films.

If you consider the popularity and magnitude, it has got tremendous influence on lakhs of fans, especially youth. In films, to highlight manliness of hero, or worst and lowest position of heroine, smoking is highlighted.

Greatness of Dr.Rajkumar:

Dr.Raj knew very well that, has roles in films and his real life will always influence people and youth. That is why, he never acted in film scenes, which required smoking or drinking. In real life, in his home, on shooting sets, in public functions, he never smoked or drinked. Even he never took part in advertisements.

Influence of Advertisements:

In developing countries including India, Tobacco companies, cigarette companies, spend lakhs of rupees, throw flood of advertisements, sponsor sports and other programmes to advertise Tobacco. Small kids and youth get attracted and dragged into Tobacco addiction. As per the report from word bank, 82,000 to 99,000 children and youth smoke daily. Market Techniques, films, internet, bill boards, advertisements in newspapers, attract more people towards Tobacco consumption.

Earth Free from Tobacco Waste:

Yogi hale Hendlin of centre for Tobacco control, research and education, warns us, to clearly note that, tobacco kills People, as well as Earth. There is no social and nutrition purpose. We must think, worry and do some research about growing Tobacco, production, distribution, Transport and waste brought along with Tobacco and their effects or environment. Tobacco industry, which is not profitable, transfers the higher cost, on people, earth and its creatures, and next generations. Due to more labour intensive methods, utilization of water and power, chemical pollution, poisonous waste, this industry transfers it’s expenditure on citizens, who give indirect tax.

To grow tobacco, 5% of forest is destroyed. A lot of wood is required to dry tobacco leaves. Labourers who pluck tobacco leaves, get green leaf disease (Nicotine poison). The system of multi crop and alternate crop cultivation is stopped.  Hence soil is spoilt. Have you understood all these results, are the outcome of tobacco kingdom!?. In the production stage, the diastral effect on environment, can’t be calculated, due to use of water, power and chemicals. A lot of fossil oil is used for transport of chemicals to the firm, transport of leaves to production plants, transport of wood to production centers, transport to other counters for the process and utilization.

After smoking when people throw waste potion of the cigarette, there is a plastic called cellulose acetate in the thick ends of thrown cigarettes. Storage of Nicotine and other poisons in these portions, kill thousands of birds and a few children. For packing also, a lot of material is required.

Effect of tobacco on health:

All products utilizing tobacco, contain more Nicotine, which is harmful and death inducing. This habit kills brain. The brains of tobacco users, send the false signal that, Nicotine is absolutely required, like food and fluids. Tobacco demon is sure to throw on you, various cancers, such as mouth, tongue, throat and lungs cancers. Heart attack, stroke, acute heart diseases and epilepsy. People smoke tobacco in the form of beedi, cigarette, cigar, pipe and chiroot; eat tobacco in the form of tobacco powder, chewing tobacco, khaini and ghutka and inhail snuff.

Illegal tobacco Business:

One in ten cigarette and many tobacco produces, have no legal sanction. Through illegal and immoral sales of these products, the whole world is trembling in the fields of health, law, economics, administration and corruption. If tobacco industry and crime lobbying groups, are being benefited from the immoral sale, smuggling and anti legal activities, public are suffering, problems of health and security. To wipe out this, a very strong immediate action is required. An organised and very well co-ordinated, combined effort is required from public, media, and people in the fields of education and health.

Legal action:

Through the 2005 act, union ministry of health and family welfare, has prohibited advertisements on cigarettes, and banned smoking in public. It is a punishable offence. If the visual scene require smoking and drinking, govt has passed a rule of showing warning sentences below the frames, such as, drinking Alcohol and smoking are injurious to health. Tobacco advertisements cannot appear in radio and T.V.

Latest news:

Union finance minister proposes to put more tax on tobacco and pan masala, in the new G.S.T. 44.8% will be the total tax on pan masala. 5% cess is there on cigarettes. A special tax will be there on every thousand cigarettes, in the range of 1591 to 4170. Total G.S.T. on tobacco and its products will be 29.4%. Cess is there to the tune of 45.8% to 85.12%.  109.2% tax is there on mixture used in pipe and cigarettes.

Efforts to be taken to control tobacco consumption:

To reduce very bad consequences of tobacco consumption, following steps may be taken. Smoking can be got relieved  from addicted, through combined support of sports, entertaining centres, people and family programmes, community medical centre, and health centers. Through education to quit tobacco, movement, market techniques, motivating through highlighting bad sides of tobacco, strong leadership, to take a strong action on illegal tobacco sale.

Dear Young Friends:

Kindly pay attention to my sincere appeal. You might be thinking that youthfullness is mine, money is mine, derived thrill and enjoyment are mine. May I request you to equally enjoy, disease, cancer or any other side effect in the save way. You have to eat your own act. Why you pull us towards pain, disease from your smoke?. If at all you get sin consciousness by reading this article, kindly stop, this tobacco addiction immediately.

N.V.Ramesh, Mysuru.
Mob: 98455 65238

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Tobacco use in India – An evil with many faces. Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), a global standard for systematically monitoring adult tobacco use and tracking key tobacco control indicators reported a steep decline in tobacco consumption in India in its second survey report published on June 23, 2017. India is the world’s largest democracy, the second largest consumer and third largest producer of tobacco. Tobacco control results from India take on a global significance in terms of impact on total mortality and disease burden. In the last five years, the country has witnessed a number of legal battles between the government and the tobacco industry with favourable results on tobacco control. Despite tremendous resistance and litigation from the tobacco industry, the Ministry of Health imposed an 85% pictorial warning on tobacco packets from 1st April 2016.

Dual tobacco use in India:

A dual tobacco user uses both smoking and smokeless forms of tobacco. According to GATS India 2009- 2010, the prevalence of dual tobacco use was 5.3% (men 9.3%; women 1.1%), amounting to 42.3 million adults.

Indian Initiatives:

No tobacco day is celebrated by organising public marches, demonstration programmes, big banners, advertising campaigns through educational programs, direct oral communication with common public to encourage them to stop smoking. Meetings are organised for involved campaigners, marches, public debates, anti-tobacco activities, public art, health camps, rallies and parades, implementing new laws to restrict smoking in particular areas and many effective activities.

Individuals from different region of the country, non-profit and public health organizations get participated very actively in the campaign celebration to get global success and involves in distributing placards, posters display having latest theme and information related to the bad effects of tobacco use or its product smoking. Taxes on various tobacco products in India were hiked with the aim to discourage use of any form of tobacco.

Voice of Tobacco Victims (VoTV), a campaign led by doctors and tobacco victims, played a pivotal role in the getting gutka/smokeless tobacco banned. (https://vovindia.org). The 360-degree campaign involved legal battle, advocacy, media, and research. The VoTV network reached several medical societies and hundreds of individual doctors to increase engagement in tobacco control advocacy. Tobacco victims with their grit and determination declared- “This is what tobacco did to us, we want to save others”.

Summary of GATS 2 Survey 2017: Pattern of Tobacco

1. 6% of adults aged 15 and above (267 millions) used tobacco in any form

2. 199 million use smokeless tobacco; 100 million smoke tobacco and 32 million smoke as well as chew tobacco.

3. The most commonly used tobacco products are Khaini (a type of smokeless tobacco) 85 million users and Bidi (hand rolled cigarette) 67 million users.

4. 199 million users live in rural area and 68 million in urban

Significant changes compared to GATS 1 (OCTOBER 2010)

1. 17% relative decrease in tobacco prevalence

2. Tobacco use among 15-24 year olds showed relative reduction of 33% and for 15-17 year olds there was a 54% reduction.

3. The age of initiation of tobacco use increased by 1 year (17.9 to 18.9).

4. While there was a decrease in second-hand smoke exposure in public places (6%) and at home (13%), there was no decrease in workplaces.

5. 9% (83 % to 92%) more believed that second-hand smoke is harmful

6. 7% (89% to 96%) more believed that smokeless tobacco is harmful

 Areas of concern that remain still

1. 68% of smokers, 17% of Bidi smokers, and 50% of smokeless Tobacco users purchase loose Tobacco.

2. 30% of those who work indoors are exposed to second-hand smoke

3. 23% adults are still exposed to SHS at public places.

4. Nearly 10% of people still notice some form of tobacco advertisement.

5. Despite the Gutka ban, 51 million people were still able to buy Gutka.

We must commend Government of India for the commitment to Tobacco Control. We also recognize the efforts of several national/international NGOs, academic institutions and civil society activists who have contributed to this impressive result. GATS 2 demonstrate that the tobacco control strategies in India are going in the right direction. For continuing improvement, the country needs further strengthening of policies, particularly enforcement of tobacco control laws. Comprehensive national smoke-free laws protect over 1.4 billion people, or only 20% of the world’s population. Every person should be able to breathe tobacco-smoke-free air. Smoke-free laws are popular, protect the health of non-smokers, do not harm business and also encourage smokers to quit smoking or use of tobacco in any form.

Dr.N.Mariappan

Plastic surgeon, Chennai.

Ph: 9901043568

E-mail: drn_m@hotmail.com

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2. More than 6 million global deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while around 890 000 are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke. Of the more than 6 million tobacco-related deaths every year across the world, one- sixth occur in India alone.

3. Total tobacco-related deaths are expected to reach 8 million by 2030. The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) estimates doubling of deaths from smoking because of the increase in smoking among young girls compared with adult females, the high susceptibility of smoking among never smokers, high levels of exposure to second hand smoke, and pro-tobacco indirect advertising.

4. Around 80% of the world’s 1.1 billion smokers live in low-and middle income countries.

Second hand smoke (passive smoking) is the exposure of non-smokers to smoke that fills restaurants, offices or other enclosed spaces from tobacco products – cigarettes, Bidis and water pipes. About 34,000 non-smokers die from heart disease each year from exposure to second hand tobacco smoke in USA and is a leading cause of heart disease in non-smokers, your children, partner and friends.

1. In adults, second-hand smoke causes serious cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, including coronary heart disease and lung cancer.

2. In pregnant women there is a high risk of complications during delivery. it causes low birth weight of the new-born babies. Infants have higher risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

3. Almost half of children regularly breathe air polluted by tobacco smoke in public places. In 2004, children accounted for 28% of the deaths attributable to second-hand smoke. Children exposed to tobacco smoke are more likely to have ear infections and asthma.

4. Second-hand smoke causes more than 890 000 premature deaths per year.

Third hand smoke is residual nicotine and other chemicals left on indoor surfaces by tobacco smoke. People are exposed to the chemicals by touching contaminated surfaces or breathing in the off gassing from these surfaces.

Dr.N.Mariappan

Plastic surgeon, Chennai

Ph: 9901043568

E-mail: drn_m@hotmail.com

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