By Dr Caleb Harris M.Ch.(Surgical Oncology)
World No Tobacco Day is observed on the 31st of May every year, since the year 1987. This is an initiative of the World Health Organisation. This year, the theme is ‘Tobacco breaks Hearts’, with a focus on the harmful effects of tobacco on the heart. Apart from heart disease, tobacco is responsible for stroke, diseases of the blood vessels, lung disease and several cancers. In fact, tobacco is the most common preventable cause of death.
While all of us have heard about the harmful effects of tobacco, I thought it would be interesting to find out if there were any benefits of tobacco. I asked a colleague of mine as to what he felt was a beneficial effect of tobacco, expecting the common answer which I usually hear- reliever of constipation, but to my surprise, he said that tobacco helps people socialize. This is something to ponder about, as its not just about the degradation of the society, where people need a harmful substance to socialize, but it’s the lie that the tobacco industry has been able to successfully propagate, despite the ban on advertisements. The main targets of these tobacco companies are youngsters, as the companies know that tobacco users will have a premature death and hence want to add new users every year. The age of initiation into tobacco usein Meghalaya is 17.5 years as per the GATS survey, which is higher than the previous survey done in 2009-10. This is probably related to the fact that 92% of adults know about the harmful effects of tobacco.
The Global Adult Tobacco Survey(GATS) is a global standard for systematic monitoring of adult tobacco use and helps in tracking the key tobacco control indicators. GATS is a household survey of persons aged 15 years and above in all the 30 states and two union territories of India. The first round was conducted in 2009-10 and the second round in 2016-17. This was conducted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt of India.
While 28.6% of all Indians use tobacco in any form, it is unfortunate that 47% of people aged 15 years and above in Meghalaya use tobacco. For men, the figure comes to 59.8%, which means almost two of every three men in Meghalaya use tobacco. Though this is cause to worry, we can find solace in the fact that the usage has reduced by about 8% as compared to GATS-1. This is attributed to the curbs on advertisement and the pictorial warnings on cigarette packets. GATS-2 showed that 52.9% of smokers considered quitting because of the pictorial warnings.
The goal of the tobacco industry is only to maximise its profits, at any cost. And this cost is the life of the individuals who consume tobacco. It is not just the individuals who are affected, but the entire family which will feel the impact of a premature death, or illness in the family. And this in turn, will affect the society and the entire state. As a society, we must protect our children from getting initiated into use of tobacco, betel nut and other addictive substances. The Juvenile Justice Act forbids the sale of tobacco products to minors and does not allow establishments selling these within 100 yards of educational institutions. The penalty prescribed is imprisonment up to 7 years, with or without a fine of up to a lakh rupee. But this is hardly enforced. We have to be the custodians of our society and ensure our children don’t fall prey to the false propaganda of these businesses, whose only aim is to make money, at the expense of our health. Also, we can take the lead in curbing smoking in public places. Teachers in the society have an important role in ensuring that schools are ‘Tobacco-free zones’ and the most important aspect is for them to be good role models.
It will not suffice if we tell children what not to do. We need to give them goals to achieve. Not necessarily academic, but also in other aspects like sports, arts, leadership, etc. The Northeast Region needs a lot of young champions to promote the varied and rich culture, and we should inspire them to do their part in this.
So, on the occasion of this World No Tobacco Day 2018, let us pledge to ‘Choose Health, not Tobacco’.
For more information, you can attend the ‘Sensitisation program’ at NEIGRIHMS Lecture Theatre 1 on May 31st, 2018 at 10am.
( Dr Caleb Harris is Assistant Professor and HOD, Department of Surgical Oncology, NEIGRIHMS, Shillong)
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