Will Gutka Ban Control Tobacco Use?

Bangalore: In a major breakthrough, six states have banned gutka and other tobacco products as the country is fighting the larger battle to ban gutka. Madhya Pradesh took the first step followed by Kerala and Bihar. Maharashtra has banned both gutka and pan masala. After Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan, Haryana is expected to ban gutka soon and Goa had already banned it under the public health.

Pankaj Chaturvedi of Tata Memorial said, “India is the highest producer of mouth cancer. Apart from that, there are several precancerous conditions, in which the mouth of the person doesn’t open,” as quoted by IBN Live. Public health experts say it’s a huge health relief, as India battles 80,000 new cancer cases every year. Since 90 percent of cases of throat and mouth cancer were due to tobacco consumption, public health experts have appealed for creating awareness about its ill effects.

Till about a year ago, gutka reigned as a Rs 20,000 crore industry. But now gutka industry is admitting to losses, and argues that gutka should not be considered as food at all.

India’s only tobacco- free village- Shankarpura in Haryana, comes as a breadth of fresh air. Even the elders puffing the traditional hookah and discussing worldly issues has been Haryana’s social culture, the village people choose to break away from the tradition by becoming perhaps the only village in the country which is free from tobacco. A village elder said, “I do not consume tobacco in any form and I am free from disease. I do not need doctors. I feel young,” reported The Times of India.

A survey conducted by Global Adult Tobacco Survey of India in the year 2010-2011 revealed that 35 percent of adults consumed tobacco out of which 21 percent were found to consume smokeless tobacco.

In India, states like Himachal Pradesh have launched anti- tobacco campaigns by flagging off motor bike rally carrying the message of ill- effects of consumption of tobacco and its by-products all over the world. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has conferred WHO South-East Asia Regional Office Award-2012 to Himachal Pradesh for its outstanding achievement in anti-tobacco campaign, reports IBN Live.

The government has also implemented a fine from Rs 25,000 up to Rs 2 lakh, or between six months to two years of imprisonment. Despite of all these rules and regulations and awareness campaigns, 5 million people in India are already addicted to tobacco.