Yes Smoking kills! Tobacco consumption in any form can prove to be fatal for health, leading to diseases like cancer, heart attack, among many others. No Smoking Day is celebrate on the second Wednesday of March.
The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) conduct in 2019 which show a decline in tobacco consumption among Indians.
Percentage of Tobacco users in India in 2019 as per GYTS
Current Tobacco Users
- 2003: 16.9
- 2006: 13.7
- 2009: 14.6
- 2019: 8.5
Current Cigarette Smokers
- 2003: 4.2
- 2006: 3.8
- 2009: 4.4
- 2019: 2.6
Current Bidi Smokers
- 2003: 2.2
- 2006: 4.7
- 2009: 5.3
- 2019: 2.1
Exposure to Tobacco smoke at home
- 2003: 36.4
- 2006: 26.6
- 2009: 21.9
- 2019: 11.2
Students who thought other people’s tobacco smoking is harmful to them
- 2006: 67.9
- 2009: 66.8
- 2019: 70.6
Highlights of GYTS Survey 2019
- 8.5% of students, 9.6% of boys and 7.4% of girls, use tobacco products (in any form)
- Highest use of any tobacco product was in Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram (58% each) and lowest in Himachal Pradesh (1.1%).
- 7.3% of students, 8.3% of boys and 6.2% of girls, smoke tobacco
- 4.1% of students, 4.6% of boys and 3.4% of girls, use smokeless tobacco
- 2 in 10 current smokers, 25% of boys and 13% of girls, tried to quit smoking in the past 12 months (from the time survey was held in 2019)
- 21% smokers want to quit smoking in 2019
- 27% of users of smokeless tobacco, 28% of boys and 25% of girls, tried to quit using in past 12 months (from the time survey was held in 2019)
- 1 in 4 current users of smokeless tobacco wanted to quit now.
What will happen if you quit tobacco?
- In 8 hours Oxygen levels return to normal
- In 24 hours Risk of heart attack begins to decrease
- In 72 hours Lung function improves
- In 1-9 months Coughing and shortness of breath decreases.
- In 12 months Risk of heart disease is half as compare to tobacco user
- In 5 years Stroke risk is reduce.
- In 10 years The risk of lung cancer is less than half as compare to tobacco users.
Source: National Tobacco Control Programme
How Dangerous is Tobacco for you?
- Major risk factors for Cancer, Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD), Diabetes, Chronic Lung Disease, stroke, infertility, blindness, Tuberculosis (TB), Oral Cavity etc
- 50% of cancers in males and 20% cancers in females
- 40% of TB and other related diseases
Source: National Tobacco Control Programme
Effects of Smoking
- Cough and throat irritation
- Bad breath and bad-smelling clothes
- Patchy skin and discoloration of teeth
- Serious fetal conditions
- Heart diseases and Lung cancer
Over time, serious conditions may develop, including health problems like heart disease, bronchitis, pneumonia, stroke, and many types of cancer, out of which, oral cancer being quite common.
As per National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP), the economic costs attributable to tobacco use in 2011 for persons aged 35-69 was Rs 1,04,500 crores.
Tobacco use also causes loss to the environment, in terms of deforestation, pollution, litter, forest fires etc.
