Nearly 9 lakh tobacco-related deaths occur in India annually of the 55-lakh lives being lost globally. The figure is expected…
Smoking (PHOTO: Getty Images)
Nearly 9 lakh tobacco-related deaths occur in India annually of the 55-lakh lives being lost globally. The figure is expected to touch 1 crore deaths (worldwide) in the decade starting 2020, according to the first Global Adult Tobacco survey.
The survey says approximately 2.7-crore Indians consume tobacco and India is also the world's third largest producer of tobacco. Not only cancer, consuming tobacco in any form adds multiple risk factors of infertility and skin diseases too, it stated.
This year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) theme terms tobacco a threat to development. Tobacco use is not considered a good habit in many societies, still it is widely consumed in one form or the other.
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Ever since its introduction in the 16th Century, tobacco is consumed in various forms — ‘bidi’, cigarette, hookah, chillum, chutta, etc. The habit of smokeless tobacco (also referred to as chewing tobacco) is also very common. Some common forms of smokeless tobacco include khaini, Mainpuri tobacco, mawa, mishri, etc.
The total number of tobacco users in the world has been estimated at 1.2 billion, which is expected to rise to 1.6 billion during the 2020s.
At present, nearly .9 million tobacco-related deaths occur in India annually as compared to 5.5 million worldwide, which is expected to increase to about 10 million during 2020s. The report also revealed that 8 to 10 lakh people die of tobacco-related diseases every year and this reflects a higher mortality than the combined deaths resulting from other major diseases, such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria.
Tobacco can cause cancer of oral cavity, larynx, oesophagus, urinary bladder, kidney, stomach, pancreas, cervix. Several research studies have also found that consumption of tobacco in any form increases risk of infertility in men; osteoporosis, bone fractures and early-age wrinkles.
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