Tobacco consumption increases risk of contracting Covid-19, says expert

Our Reporter

Dimapur, Nov. 27 (EMN): The need to educate masses about the ill-effects of tobacco consumption took centre stage at the one-day state-level inception-cum-orientation workshop on tobacco control, organised by Can Youth in collaboration with Nagaland State Tobacco Control Cell and supported by the Union of South-East Asia, for government department and civil societies at Tourist Lodge Dimapur on November 27.

Deputy Regional Director (Tobacco and NCD Control), the Union (SEA), New Delhi, Dr. Rana Jugdeep Singh said at the workshop that tobacco consumption, be it smoking or smokeless, could increase risk of coronavirus infection.

Singh stated that to strengthen tobacco control, programmes should be held in every level, from national to village and that it should be institutionalised. He added that spreading awareness and educating people about the ill-effects of tobacco is important but enforcement and authorisation by the law can play an important role.

He went on to say that involvement of state authority, civil society and organisations would go a long way in fighting tobacco consumption, which is not just a public issue but everyone’s issue.

Child counsellor and board member of Can Youth, Kilentola Jamir said that living in a society where the environment does not provide ‘awareness or safe space definitely is a pathetic dwelling’.

Jamir lamented the present scenario in Nagaland, saying that tobacco abuse and addiction is on the rise with children starting from the age of 11 to adolescent, youth and elders consuming it, which can lead to unhealthy society with higher risk of mental and psychological issues.

She appealed to the state and district-level officials from various departments and organisations to rise above the comfort zone and start initiating awareness campaigns aggressively to save life and create a healthy society.

Dr. Meribeni Odyuo, Deputy Director of Dental and SPO, NOHP directorate of Health and Family Welfare, Nagaland, stated that tobacco industry always tries to woo new users through novel products or present them to old users as harm-reduction products, while adding that someone dies from tobacco use every six seconds today and the risk factor for six out of the eight top causes of mortality.

Odyuo informed that tobacco use leads to eight million deaths globally and more than one million deaths in India per year; and that tobacco addiction is as strong as psychoactive drugs like heroin. India is the second largest consumer of tobacco products in the world after china and four in 10 tobacco users start consuming it before 18 years.

It is not just the smokers or tobacco users that are affected but one third of the people are regularly exposed to second-hand smoke and about six lakh people die every year prematurely as a result of exposure to second-hand smoke, she added besides explaining its health-related and socio-economic implications.

According to the report of global adult tobacco survey, the Northeast India (GATS) of 2016 and GATS 2010, Nagaland was in second position at 56.8 per cent during (GATS) 2010 survey which come down do 43.3 per cent at the GATS survey 2016, informed Odyuo. She added that commonly used tobacco products in Nagaland were pan masala with tobacco (21.1 percent).

The official informed that an estimate 2, 00,000 hectares of land is cleared every year for cultivation of tobacco, leading to soil erosion, and cigarette butt also pollute the environment as it takes 25 years to decompose due to presence of cellulose (non biodegradable). She added that the cure for this devastating epidemic is not medicines or vaccines but concentrated effort and actions of both government and civil societies.

The joint director of Dental and SPO, NOHP directorate of Health and Family Welfare, Nagaland, Dr. Chiekroshuyi Tetseo, also spoke about the need to strengthen tobacco control laws and the role of stakeholders in meeting the objectives of Framework Convention on Tobacco Contro (FCTC).