According to Global Adult Tobacco Survey-2017, Smokeless Tobacco (SLT) users are 21.4% of all adults against 10.7% smokers in the country.
India has become the oral cancer capital of the world. Tobacco is one of the biggest causes of cancer accounting for more than 10% of the 13.5 lakh Indians who die every year due to tobacco-related illnesses. On World Cancer Day, health experts have urged people to stay away from tobacco because, unlike many cancers for which causes are not known, 90% of oral and lung cancers are preventable as tobacco is the cause.
According to Global Adult Tobacco Survey-2017, Smokeless Tobacco (SLT) users are 21.4% of all adults against 10.7% smokers in the country. In Rajasthan, 22.0% of men, 5.8% of women and 14.1% of all adults currently use smokeless tobacco.
Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, Professor and Surgeon, Department of Head Neck Surgery, Tata Memorial Center said that “about ninety percent of my patients are tobacco users. We are seeing smokeless users getting cancer at a younger age and the mortality rates are high. Most users start in their youth when they are more susceptible to advertising and promotion. We need a movement against gutka, khaini, pan masala, etc to save our youth.”
Of the total 19.9 crore SLT users in the country, 29.6% are male adults and 12.8% are female according to the GATS 2017. Smoking by women in India is still socially unacceptable but SLT use is common. Easy availability and low cost of SLT are key factors promoting SLT use by women.
“Earlier, anti-tobacco advertisements showed photos of cigarettes and bidis and people thought that only consuming cigarette and bidis was harmful and slowly the consumption of SLT increased.” Dr Pawan Singhal, Head & Neck Cancer Surgeon, Sawai Man Singh Hospital and Patron of Voice of Tobacco Victims (VoTV) Rajasthan said. “People chew tobacco for a long time so that nicotine reaches the blood, due to which they remain in contact with bacteria for a long time causing an increased risk of cancer,” he added.
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