Maharashtra Nearly 5.1 per cent of students consume various forms of tobacco products, reveals survey

A survey of 3,765 students aged 13-15 from 35 schools in Maharashtra has revealed that nearly 5.1 per cent of 3,765 students consume various forms of tobacco products. Further, according to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey released on Thursday, four per cent of students smoke tobacco and 2.4 per cent are users of smokeless tobacco. This is the first time that a Maharashtra-based survey has been undertaken.

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope pointed out the importance of creating awareness among youths about the harmful effect of tobacco use. “We need to create more awareness at schools and institutional levels to reduce the prevalence of tobacco use among young students. There must be stringent tobacco legislation implementation on the ground to decrease the demand and supply of tobacco products,” he said.

The survey also revealed that over 31.5 per cent of the children were exposed to passive smoking at home and in public. Surprisingly, despite the ban on selling tobacco to minors, 35.9 per cent of the children said they had bought it from the store. 27.3 per cent of the responders were boys and almost double this number, 52.8 per cent, were girls. The students’ responses reveal how the state government has failed to implement the Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products Act, 2003.

Dr Pradeep Vyas, Additional Chief Secretary, Maharashtra, said, “It is important to educate students about the health hazards posed by tobacco as there is always an opportunity to transform their impressionable minds for the better and at the same time, there is also the risk of their being easily drawn in by undesirable influences.”

There is a need for a major overhaul of the tobacco vendor policies, especially when it comes to the sale of such products in the vicinity of education institutions – the survey shows that nearly 56 per cent of the underage students were able to buy tobacco products (cigarette, beedis and other chewable products) through street vendors.

“Around 63 per cent of current cigarette smokers and 70 per cent of current beedi smokers bought cigarettes/beedis from a store, paan shop, street vendor or a vending machine. Among the current smokers, 30 per cent of cigarette smokers and 43 per cent of beedi smokers were not refused by the vendors/shopkeepers because of their age (13-15 year-old age group),” the report reveals.

The report further highlights that the use of any form of tobacco was higher among students at home (30 per cent), followed by use in public spaces (14.4 per cent), at a friend’s place (11.9 per cent), social events (10 per cent), school (9 per cent), and other places (24 per cent).

Dr Padmaja Jogewar, Joint Director & SNO, NTCP, said they have penalised many stores who sell cigarettes, beedis and any form of tobacco within 100 yards of a school. But there is also the need to sensitise children at an early age, for which they are planning to incorporate a chapter on the dangers of smoking in the syllabus. “Nearly 30,000 institutions have been tobacco-free across Maharashtra, since the COTPA Act, 2003. Last year, we collected Rs 5 crore in fines from vendors/shopkeepers who were selling cigarettes within 100 yards of a school,” she informed.

In Maharashtra, the GYTS-4 was conducted in 2019 (in rural and urban areas) as part of a national survey by the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). A total of 4,360 students from 35 schools (nine public schools and 20 private schools) participated in the survey.

The survey was conducted to study and estimate tobacco usage among youths aged 13-15 years at the state-level based on gender and school location (rural-urban). The first three rounds of GYTS were conducted in 2003, 2006, and 2009.