Anti-Tobacco Battle Losing Steam – Indian Currents, Editorial
The statistics is alarming. As many as eight lakh people die of tobacco consumption per year in India. This is about 15 per cent of the global deaths due to the killer stuff. Juxtapose this figure with the fact that India accounts for almost 15 per cent of world smokers. One does not need the brain of Albert Einstein to realise that the percentage of death due to tobacco consumption is directly proportionate to the number of tobacco users. There are volumes of expert analysis and data which link cancer to the use of tobacco in its various forms. This is taking epidemic proportion with studies predicting an impending catastrophe by the end of this decade.
A more worrisome area is that the young India is getting caught in this suicidal habit. The early age of initiation to this dreadful addiction should open our eyes. Studies have proved that children as young as 11 to 12 years are getting hooked to this ‘smoking world’. The prevalence of tobacco use among school students in different States has been reported to vary from 1.9 per cent in Delhi to 75.3 per cent in Mizoram. If we close our eyes to this dangerous trend and steps are not taken to nip this habit in the bud, the nation will have to pay a heavy price. The young impressionable minds have to be made aware of the killer effects of this ‘wayward habit’. Law alone will not help retrieve the situation. Parents, schools, educational authorities and the government have to work in tandem.
As the ghosts of tobacco and cancer stare in the face, the weird approach of the lawmakers is most astonishing. Several Members of Parliament have come out to shamelessly proclaim that there is not direct link between tobacco consumption and cancer. Their uncharitable remarks fly in the face of what has been scientifically proved and go against the scientific temper which the Constitution asserts. The fact that some of the lawmakers are owners of manufacturing units of tobacco products brings the cat out of the bag. They keep their self-interest above the future of a generation. The proposal to increase the size of the pictorial warning on tobacco products has been stoutly opposed by none else but the lawmakers who have vested interest in the ‘killer’ industry. They do not want their flourishing industry to suffer even if it perishes a young generation.
A multi-pronged attack is needed to fight this menace which is slowly gnawing away the life of people. It should start with parents and continue in schools; non-government organisations and governments too should chip in to tackle the menace. The government has the added responsibility of enforcing smoke-free legislation and implementing existing anti-smoking and anti-tobacco laws. It should not succumb to the powerful tobacco lobby. Kowtowing to such lobbies will spell doom for people. The government should not be seen hand-in-glove with a lobby that boosts a ‘killer disease’. It should be the message of this year’s ‘World No Tobacco Day’.
