Taking cognisance of the fact that 12 per cent of the State’s population uses tobacco in one form or another, Punjab Government is aiming at two more districts — Jalandhar and Tarn Taran — to make them tobacco and smoke free, taking the total tally to 18.
Already, 16 districts have been declared ‘Tobacco Smoke Free’ (TSF) on the basis of a compliance study report by the School of Public Health of Chandigarh’s Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER). Under the campaign of making Punjab Tobacco Smoke Free, SAS Nagar (Mohali), Mansa, Amritsar, Roopnagar, Gurdaspur, Fatehgarh Sahib, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (Nawanshahr), Sangrur, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Sri Muktsar Sahib, Bathinda, Faridkot, Ferozepur, Fazilka and Patiala have been covered. “Efforts are under way to declare Jalandhar and Tarn Taran districts as Tobacco Smoke Free,” a senior official of the State health department told The Pioneer. The official added that the reassessment of four Tobacco Smoke Free districts, declared so for more than one year, will be done soon by the PGIMER’s School of Public Health.
Considering that tobacco use is the cause in 40 per cent of all cancer cases and 90 per cent of all oral cancer cases, the State Government has been making consistent efforts to make the entire state ‘Tobacco Smoke Free’ in a phased manner. For the purpose, meetings of State level Tobacco Control Committee were being held under the chairpersonship of Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare. In addition, monitoring was also carried out at both the State and district level every month. “Monthly monitoring of the tobacco control were held in Civil Surgeon Conference at the State-level, while at district level, monitoring was done in District Health Society,” said the officer.
The health department has also prepared a Health Workers’ Guide giving detailed note of the causes, symptoms, prevention, and ways to get away with the addition to tobacco in any form, be it cigarettes, bidis, etc. According to the main outcomes of the PGIMER’s compliance report, Faridkot district topped the charts with 96.7 per cent rate, followed by Ferozepur, Patiala and Fazilka with 89.5, 89.1, and 88.8 per cent compliance rate — among these four districts reevaluated in January 2014. “We have taken a slew of steps to curb tobacco use in the state, still many challenges are being faced owing to easy availability besides plethora of such products in the market even at cheaper rates,” said the official.
To make the people aware of the harmful effects of tobacco products, different departments including Police, Health, Education, among others, are making collaborative efforts. “NGOs are also being involved through which the general public is being sensitised regarding the COTPA so that there is no violation of the Act,” said the official.
Welfare Dept suffers setback in anti-tobacco campaign
Punjab Health and Family Welfare Department suffered a setback in its campaign against tobacco use this week as the State Cabinet reduced value added tax on cigarettes. To reduce the consumption of tobacco in the state, the state health and family welfare department had recently increased VAT on cigarettes from 22.5 to 55 per cent.
While tobacco consumption was not cut down, the move led to smuggling of cigarettes from other States, as per government claims. Considering the same, the state cabinet, in its meeting on Monday this week, restored tax on cigarettes to 20.5 per cent — plus 10 per cent surcharge. “This would help in checking sale of smuggled cigarettes, as VAT on cigarettes in adjoining states was around 20 per cent. It has been observed that increase in VAT has not resulted into fewer sales but such sales levels met through smuggled cigarettes,” contended the Government spokesperson.