At the No-Tobacco Program organised on the eve of ‘World No Tobacco Day’ (31st May), Ace shuttler Ms. Jwala Gutta, administered the bikers who came in a rally, a pledge to quit smoking and become “Anti Tobacco Crusaders” and along with Dr. Vijay Anand Reddy, Director, Apollo Cancer Hospital, released ‘Anti Tobacco Crusaders’ badge.
Speaking on the occasion, Ms Jwala Gutta said, No Tobacco Day is a very important day, doctors are doing their bit to create awareness and discourage people from using tobacco, but it’s for us to take the message seriously, give up the addiction and lead a healthy life. My own personal experience, my dad was a smoker, but to my surprise he quit smoking on the day I won Commonwealth games gold medal, to the relief of our entire family. One just need to have strong will power to give up tobacco for a better future. Sports can be a good avocation to have a healthy lifestyle and keep away from such addictions, she said.
Dr. Vijay Anand Reddy urged the participants to join him in this crusade against tobacco. He said, smoking habit starts at a young age. The youngsters idolise the hero on a motorbike smoking cigarette, therefore we involved Harley Davidson Motorbikers in this World No Tobacco Day program at Apollo Cancer Hospital and made them to take a pledge to quit smoking and become “Anti Tobacco Crusaders.” He said, tobacco is so dangerous and hazardous that one should never permit our friends and relatives to use it.
Highlighting the grave need for curbing tobacco usage, Dr. P. Vijay Anand Reddy said
§ Nearly 2.4 crore people of Andhra Pradesh are using tobacco as per the data released by MoHFW and WHO last year.
§ Eighty lakhs of people in Andhra Pradesh will die prematurely through 27 different tobacco related lethal diseases.
§ Tobacco has been proven to be a confirmed cancer causing substance by WHO nearly 30 years back and there is no safe form or safe dosage of tobacco in the world.
§ Revenue from tobacco is a fraction of the losses that eventually are directly attributable to its sequel. Andhra Pradesh has very low tax levels and less than several states in the country.
§ Comprehensive Tobacco control is the single most cost effective, economically viable and practical approach to prevent this tragedy.
The other Cancer specialists gave live demonstration by of hazards of tobacco usage. Tobacco victims shared their experience and urged people to not to get into the trap of tobacco smoking or chewing.
Some Facts about Tobacco usage in Andhra Pradesh
1. Tobacco use in adults (age 15 years and above)
§ 29.2 % use tobacco in any form
§ 81% of the tobacco users are daily users of those who use in any form of tobacco.
§ 40 % are males and 19 % are females are current tobacco users.
2. Tobacco use in youth (age 13-15 years)
§ 9 % of students currently use any form of tobacco and 7.1 % currently use other tobacco products.
§ 8 % of never smokers are likely to initiate smoking next year
§ Over 5 in 10 are exposed to smoke in public places and over 4 in 10 have parents who smoke, chew or apply tobacco.
§ Over 8 in 10 smokers want to quit.
§ Over 7 in 10 students think smoking in public places should be banned.
§ Three – fourth of students think smoke from others is harmful to them.
3. Age at smoking initiation
§ 6.8 % are initiating the tobacco use by <15 br="" years="">§ 24% tobacco users initiated before the legal age ( 18 years)
4. Addiction
§ 65.9 % daily tobacco users first use tobacco (smoke and smokeless) within 30 minutes after waking up.
5. Products used
§ 17.4% adult use any smoked tobacco product, 11.1% use cigarettes and 6.8% use bidi,
§ Bidi smokers smoke 11.1 bidi each day
§ Cigarette smokers smoke 5.1 cigarettes each day.
§ 15.1 % adults use smokeless forms while 17.4% smoke.
§ Very high gutka use among males: 9.5 % to that of 5.5% use khaini or tobacco lime mixture among females.
6. Expenditure on tobacco products
§ Cigarette smoker spends on average 363/- monthly and bidi smoker 113.30/- (higher than national average Rs.399.20/- & Rs.93.40/- respectively)
7. Knowledge of adverse health effects
§ Though 86 % believe that smoking causes lung cancer, Only 43% and 63% believe that tobacco causes stroke/heart attack respectively
8. Cessation
§ 55% of the smokers made quit attempt in last 12 months
§ 51 % of the smokeless tobacco users made quit attempt in last 12 months
§ Smoking quit rate is very low (less than 2%) and smokeless quit is less than 1 %
§ 56 % of current smokers and 49 % current smokeless tobacco users have no plan to quit.
