Tobacco Use among Men in Punjab registers sharp decline from 33.8% to 19.2% (NFHS-4): Ms Vini Mahajan
Author(s): City Air NewsA REMARKABLE DECLINE IN PREVALANCE OF TOBACCO USE PUNJAB IN LAST 10 YEARS AS PER NFHS DATA Chandigarh, December 22, 2016: Ms Vini Mahajan, Additional Chief Secretary, Health, Punjab said that Government of Punjab...
A REMARKABLE DECLINE IN PREVALANCE OF TOBACCO USE PUNJAB IN LAST 10 YEARS AS PER NFHS DATA
Chandigarh, December 22, 2016: Ms Vini Mahajan, Additional Chief Secretary, Health, Punjab said that Government of Punjab has been making serious efforts in the past few years to tackle the problem of tobacco use. In its endeavor to save the youth and children from addiction to Tobacco/Nicotine, the Government has been strictly implementing the various laws and provisions related to Tobacco/Nicotine control. Due to these efforts, now State of Punjab has lowest prevalence of tobacco use in country according to the National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS-4) data (2015-16).
She said that according to the National Family Health Survey 2015-16 (NFHS-4) conducted by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the tobacco use among men in Punjab state declined from 33.8% (NFHS-3) to 19.2% (NFHS-4) and in women from 0.8% to 0.1% during last 10 years which is lowest among all the states of the country. This is significant considering the fact that there are 2200 deaths attributed to tobacco use and 5500 children/youth who start using tobacco daily in India.NFHS-4 fieldwork for Punjab was conducted from 28th January to 20 June 2016 and gathered information from 16,449 households, 19,484 women, and 3,027 men.
Sh. Hussan Lal Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration said that Punjab was the first state where Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems ENDS/E-cigarettes have been declared as "unapproved drug" under Drugs and Cosmetics Act. Punjab has also banned the sale and distribution of Flavored/scented chewable tobacco in the state under Food Safety and Standards Act. Punjab is the only state where implementation of Drugs and Cosmetics Act/ Food Safety & Standard Act of India and COTPA is being monitored monthly at State by Government and at District Level by Deputy Commissioners.
Dr. H. S. Bali congratulated the State Tobacco Control Cell, Punjab for this path-breaking achievement. He also shared that all the districts of Punjab have been declared as 'Tobacco Smoke Free' (TSF) on the basis of compliance study. Due to this Punjab received WHO World no tobacco day 2015 award. He said that deaths can be prevented by quitting tobacco. "Tobacco is the most common leading cause of preventable deaths in India. This decline in consumption is a real motivation to all the stakeholders who dream of a tobacco-free society. He also said that Punjab will continue its crusade to further reduce the prevalence of tobacco use.