More than 22 lakh people in Uttarakhand use tobacco in one or other form which is a dangerous sign. In India 2,800 persons die everyday due to tobacco consumption. The World Tobacco Day would be observed on Tuesday (May 31) and World Health Organization (WHO) has kept theme, ‘Get ready for plain packaging of tobacco products’ for this year. The plain packaging is aimed to reduce attractiveness of the tobacco products. The Patron of Voice of Tobacco victims and Professor of Swami Ram Himalayan University Dehradun, Dr Sunil Saini said that the formidable tobacco industry is devising ingenious ways to attract youths and has a motto, ‘Catch them Young’ by glamorising these products. He informed that a survey of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has revealed that tobacco is responsible for 50 percent of cancer cases among males in India while in females this percentage is 25. Dr Saini claimed that recent researches have also established that tobacco use bring changes in the genes due to which chances of having cancer increases in the children of the tobacco users. The smokeless chewable tobacco has more than 3,000 types of chemicals and out of these 29 are cancers producing. He said that the tobacco products are completely banned in 14 States of the country and Uttarakhand Govt should also take a similar initiative.
