As many as 16.5 per cent schoolchildren in the age group of 13-19 years, including girls, in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh reported to have used tobacco at least once.

The study, conducted recently by Community Medicine department of Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, is based on interviews of 2,864 schoolchildren of rural and urban schools.

Of the total males interviewed in the age group (13-19 yrs), 24.9 per cent, and out of total females, 8.9 per cent had used tobacco at least once.

Done by Dr Shishupal Singh Thakur, Dr Anupam Parashar, Dr DS Dhadwal and Dr Anjali Mahajan, the study brought to light that 35.1 per cent of the children were exposed to passive smoke at home. And 85.9 per cent of them perceived the second-hand smoke to be harmful.

The findings were shared by Dr Anmol Gupta, Head of the Department of Community Department, IGMC, at the inter-school declamation and slogan-writing competition on the theme: “Tobacco — A threat to development” at a local school.

The event was organised by MADAD Global (Motivation against Drug Abuse and Disease) in collaboration with the department to mark World No-Tobacco Day.

The competition aimed at sensitisation of the adolescent children. Dr Brij Sharma, Head of the Department of Gastroenterology, IGMC, gave away the prizes to winners, some of whom touched the issue of students drifting towards drugs and tobacco due to lack of attention by parents.

Dr Gupta informed the students about ill-effects of tobacco. He said tobacco users in HP were 21 per cent. As per a survey, the prevalence of cigarette smokers in 12 city schools a couple of years ago was 11.8 per cent. “The parents and peer smoking behaviour was mainly responsible for it,” he said.

Dr Gupta said it is estimated that people who smoke have approximately twice the risk of both mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and active tuberculosis. “However, data on the impact of smoking on treatment outcomes among patients with active tuberculosis is limited,” he said.

He shared that a recent study conducted by Dr Harshvardhan Singh, Dr SR Mazta, Dr Anita Thakur and Dr Tripti Chauhan of department of Community Medicine, IGMC, here highlighted that out of the total 117 tuberculosis patients studied, 33.3 per cent were found to be smokers. “The researchers followed the patients for six months. They found that being a smoker and being exposed to indoor air pollution had 6-9 times greater risk of treatment failure despite being on regular treatment as compared to those who did not smoke or were not exposed to indoor air pollution,” Dr Gupta said.