Punjab Government has decided to assess the prevalence of tobacco use in the State with the help of School of Public Health at Chandigarh’s Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER).
Punjab Health Department, in collaboration with PGIMER Chandigarh, would conduct three types of surveys in different districts of the State which would assess the effect of various tobacco control activities in the State in last few years.
The State Health and Family Welfare Minister Surjit Kumar Jayani, during the Civil Surgeons’ Conference, has directed the senior officials to implement the Tobacco Control Act, Food Safety Act and Drug and Cosmetics Act proactively and effectively in the State.
Necessary instructions have also been issued by the state Principal Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) Vini Mahajan in this regard.
A review meeting of the National Tobacco Control Programme and training of officials of district Tobacco Control Cell of selected districts was also held under the chairmanship of the state Health and Family Welfare director Dr Bhag Mal.
He informed that in first phase, a house-to-house survey would be conducted in Hoshiarpur, Bathinda and Amritsar districts following the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) protocol.
“It would assess the prevalence of tobacco use and impact of ban of loose cigarettes and flavoured chewable tobacco on the tobacco users as well as on tobacco vendors,” he said.
In the second phase, a comprehensive compliance study of COTPA in 10 districts — Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Amritsar, Fatehgarh Sahib, Sangrur, SAS Nagar, SBS Nagar, Gurdaspur, Roopnagar and Patiala — would be carried out.