Aizawl: Tobacco presently kills nearly six million people every year and the WHO estimated that the weed will take times of more than eight million by 2030.
World No Tobacco Day (WNTD), which is observed on May 31 is meant to encourage a 24-hour period of abstinence from all forms of tobacco consumption across the globe.
It is estimated that ten lakh people die every in India due to tobacco consumption.
Though there are no official figures for tobacco-related deaths in India’s heaviest-consuming state Mizoram, official figures put the number of deaths due to cancer at 600 to 650 annually, in which the tobacco-usage obviously play a major role.
Along with the rest of the world, Mizoram observed the World No Tobacco Day on Friday with the main function at Vanapa Hall here where health officials stressed the need for making Mizoram a tobacco-free state.
Mizoram retains the dubious distinction of being the heaviest tobacco-consuming state with 67.2 per cent of the state’s population consuming tobacco against the national average of 25 percent, according the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) India Report 2009-2010. While 72.5 per cent of the male population consumes tobacco, 61.6 per cent of the women are also indulged in tobacco consumption.
The survey has also revealed that 39.7 per cent of Mizos consumed tobacco in the form of cigarettes, against the national average of 14 percent while 40.7 per cent consumed other tobacco products like khaini and tuibur (tobacco-induced water).
The theme of this year’s ‘World No Tobacco Day’ is ‘Ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.’ The ban on any promotion of tobacco usage can bring down the incidence of diseases associated with tobacco usage significantly.
In their fight against tobacco, the activists have voiced concern over cigarettes packs without pictorial warnings imported from Myanmar. The central customs and excise seized such cigarette packs worth Rs 9 lakh during last year.
Under the leadership of Indian Society on Tobacco and Health (Mizoram chapter) president and Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla’s wife, Lal Riliani, World No Tobacco Day was observed in the state from 1988 which was the year anti-tobacco campaign was started.
The tobacco-free state campaign was launched by Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla in July 2011. (UNI)
