Tobacco Use in India and Maharashtra
India ranks second in world in total number of tobacco users; India along with Bangladesh constitutes around 95% of smokeless tobacco users in the world. As a result of this number people with tobacco related oral cancer is also highest in India. According to Global Adult Tobacco Survey 2; 2016-17 (GATS-2) 42.4% of men, 14.2% of women and 28.6% of all adults currently either smoke tobacco and/or use smokeless tobacco in India.
GATS-2 also states that 23% of adults were exposed to second hand smoke at a public place. Second-hand smoke is the smoke that fills restaurants, offices or other enclosed spaces when people burn tobacco products such as cigarettes, bidis and water-pipes. There are more than 4000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, of which at least 250 are known to be harmful and more than 50 are known to cause cancer. There is no safe level of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke. In adults, second-hand smoke causes serious cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, including coronary heart disease and lung cancer. In infants, it causes sudden death. In pregnant women, it causes low birth weight
In Maharashtra, the GATS-2 reports states that 35.5% of men, 17% of women and 26.6% of all adults currently use some form of tobacco (smoked or smokeless). Prevalence of tobacco use among 15-17 year old adults have increased from 2.9% in GATS-1 to 5.5% in GATS-2. Also the age of initiation of tobacco use has reduced from 18.5 years in GATS-1 to 17.4 years in GATS-2. It also reveals that every fifth adult was exposed to tobacco smoke at public places.
For further reading please click on following link
- For more details : Economic Burden of Tobacco Use- India.pdf
- For more details : Economic Burden of Tobacco Use- Maharashtra.pdf
- For more details : GATS 2 Maharashtra Fact Sheet.pdf
- For more details : GATS-2 INDIA FactSheet.pdf
- For more details : Smokeless Tobacco and Public health in India.pdf
