World No Tobacco Day Today: Tobacco evil on rise; Girls start smoking at 7, boys at 11.5 years 

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): More than 50 per cent of school boys in the state consume tobacco and the overall per cent of tobacco users in the age-group of 15 to 17 continues to go up, as noted in the latest findings of National Health Findings Survey of India and Global Youth Tobacco Survey conducted by World Health Organisation (WHO). 

Shockingly, girls in the state start smoking cigarettes at an average age of seven years while boys get into it at an average age of 11.5 years, as noted by National Health Mission.

As we step towards becoming cleaner, greener and healthier as a city and country, it is evident that we must fight the evil of tobacco that kills 1.2 million in India and raises economic cost of INR 1773.4 billion (USD$ 27.5 billion).

Sadly, tobacco use is rising among school students and there has been a marginal rise in tobacco users in the age group of 15 to 17 years in Madhya Pradesh. A similar trend is seen in Indore, where at least 36.3 per cent boys consume tobacco and 4.6 per cent girls do the same.

In MP, 6.5 per cent urban schoolgirls and 11.6 per cent rural girls consumer tobacco. The figure among boys is worse, as at least 35.3 per cent urban school boys and 50.8 per cent rural school boys consume tobacco.

On May 31, 2023, WHO and public health champions around the world will come together to celebrate World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) where this year's theme is “We need food, not tobacco”. We support the campaign and urge our readers to campaign and say No to Tobacco.

Current view

“Current use” is determined by respondents indicating that they have used a tobacco product on at least 1 day during the past 30 days.

9/10 cancer deaths due to Tobacco

“Nine out of 10 deaths caused by cancer are due to consumption of tobacco. In India, 7,300 people die every year because of passive smoking. Under Indian Council of Medical Research’s Cancer Registry Data Report on “National Cancer Registry Programme Report, we also found that 54% of total cancer reported in males is because of consumption of tobacco while 17% to 18% of total cancer reported in females is because of consumption of tobacco in Madhya Pradesh. It is time to gear up and change this trend now.”

- Dr Saket Mittal, Cancer Specialist

Isolation & stress often influences youngsters 

“There are many social and physical environments that influence youngsters to use tobacco, sometimes even for better sports performance. However, in today’s culture, it has become more of a trend because of mental health issues. There is a strong relationship between youth smoking and depression, anxiety, and stress. Many children, now living in nuclear families, often being an only child, isolate themselves. They feel they must do everything alone. This results in pressure that often leads them to escapism and seeking ways to solve things. Often, they feel tobacco helps, at least it lets them escape.”

- Dr Krushna A Chaudhari, Consultant Medical Oncologist