Northeast Indian states rank high in smoking survey, sales & consumption
By Wasim Rahman
Arunachal Pradesh spends the most on cigarettes a month and knows the least about its ill-effects; Mizoram is the most knowledgeable and yet is the biggest tobacco consumer, while Meghalaya has the highest number of passive smokers, a nationwide survey has revealed.
The Global Adult Tobacco Survey India, carried out in 2009-2010 by the International Institute of Population Sciences, Mumbai as the nodal agency with technical assistance from Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organisation, the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Research Triangle Institute International, came up with some startling figures.
The survey was conducted in all 29 states and the two Union Territories of Chandigarh and Puducherry, covering about 99.9 per centre of the total population of India.
The reports under the head, Economics, reveals that in case of monthly expenditure by a cigarette smoker in the country, Arunachal Pradesh tops the list, at Rs 1,264.90 per month, while Jharkhand is the lowest, at Rs 181.70.
Not surprisingly, Arunachal Pradesh stands last in the awareness graph, with only 34 per cent of the adults showing awareness that strokes can be caused by smoking.
Only 37 per cent know that it could lead to heart attacks, while 78 per cent believe lung cancer was caused by smoking.
Interestingly, Mizoram, which has the highest number of tobacco consumers, tops the knowledge graph as well.
About 79 per cent of the adults of Mizoram know that smoking leads to stroke, 92 per cent feel the major cause of heart attacks is smoking, while 98 per cent believe that tobacco leads to lung cancer.
The report also revealed that Meghalaya has the highest level of second-hand smoke exposure at public places, with 54 per cent, the lowest level being Chandigarh at 11 per cent.
The passive smoking exposure at home was also found to be highest in Mizoram, at 97 per cent, the lowest level being 10 per cent in Tamil Nadu.
Another finding was that in Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, along with Puducherry and Tamil Nadu, the intake of smokeless tobacco is higher among women, unlike in other states.
The fact-filled 300-page report was formally released by Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in New Delhi on October 19.
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