Guwahati: North East states leads in smoking and use of tobacco in other forms and is second in the use of smokeless tobacco, according to a survey of Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS-India).
The eastern region leads in respect of consumption of tobacco, the survey, which was released here officially, said. Jagdish Kaur, chief medical officer of the Directorate General of Health Services, said the GATS survey had taken account of all the six regions of the country.
Tobacco use in Assam is 39 per cent, which means every two among five adults use tobacco in some form. The national average of tobacco pravelence is 35 percent, she said. Every second adult man and every fourth adult woman in Assam use tobacco while the prevalence of smoking in the state is 14 per cent which is the same as the national average. Every third adult in Assam uses smokeless tobacco, she said adding 40 per cent men and 25 per cent of the women were the users. Though 88 per cent of smokers are aware that smoking causes lung cancer, only 67 per cent know that smoking can trigger heart attack and only 59 per cent know that it can lead to stroke, she added. (PTI)