Use of smokeless tobacco highest in Meghalaya
SHILLONG: People from the North East are more susceptible to cancer because of their lifestyle. According to Dr J Mahanta, Former Director, Regional Medical Research Center, Dibrugarh, the fact that people from the North East consumed certain types of food like smoked meat, smoked-dried fish etc., made them more prone to cancer. Chewing of tobacco and betelnut only added to the problem, Dr Mahanta added. He also informed that Mizoram stands second in the world in terms of the number of people suffering from stomach cancer. Dr Mahanta was delivering a special lecture on Cancer Epidemiology during the 2nd North East Zonal Conference of Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine (IAPSM) at NEIGRIHMS on Saturday. Dr Mahanta, however, said that by adopting right preventive measures, people can win over cancer. As per District Level Household and Facility Survey-4 (DLHS-4) report 2012- 2013, the use of smokeless tobacco was highest in Meghalaya (87 per cent) followed by Mizoram (79 per cent) while male smokers who have reached the age of 18 years and above is highest in Mizoram with 63 per cent and Meghalaya stands second. When it comes to alcohol consumption Arunachal Pradesh tops the chart followed by Manipur. President of Indian Association of Public Health, Dr Ahmed observed that the North East shares porous borders with Bangladesh, Myanmar and China making the eight states in the region vulnerable to diseases. “Medical personnel will have to be trained in this particular field as well, since the entry and re-entry of migrants into these states may cause health problems later,” Dr Ahmed said adding that there is a need to find out the health problems and the preventive measures so as to cater to the needs of the community. Medical experts from across the country gathered at the second Regional conference of North East Public Health at NEIGRIHMS. The conference was organized by the Department of Community Medicine, NEIGRIHMS in collaboration with UNICEF and ICMR under the theme “Addressing Public Health Problems in the North East Region: Challenges & Opportunities”. Medical experts dilated on the theme with a focus on public health of the North East with the increase in noncommunicable diseases, key issues on maternal, child and adolescent health, the immunization routine in North East, threat of vector borne diseases etc. The Organizing Secretary and Joint Secretary of the Conference Dr. Star Pala and Dr. Himashree Bhattacharyya respectively said that, “The Consultative meeting by the experts on the occasion imparted valuable ideas for tackling these health related issues at the community level, especially for North East India”. A pre-conference Workshop on “Bio Statistics” was held on October 15.