Almost six years after the results of the first Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS India 2010) were released, forcing the Government to sit up and take note of the extent of tobacco consumption in the country, the second round of the survey (GATS-2) was kicked off on Wednesday- this time for systematically monitoring adult tobacco use and tracking key tobacco control indicators.
In one of the largest surveys in the country, GATS-2 will interview about 76,000 males and females aged 15 years and above, from about 2,500 selected geographical units across the 30 States and two Union Territories.
According to the GATS-India 2010, about 35 per cent of adults in India consume tobacco in some form or the other. The estimated number of tobacco users in India is 27.5 crore, with 16.37 crore users of smokeless tobacco, 6.9 crore only smokers and 4.23 crore users of both smoking and smokeless tobacco.
After launching the survey, Health Minister J P Nadda said that as most of the major NCDs, generally labeled as 'lifestyle diseases' are acquired, there is an urgent need for paying attention to their preventive aspects.
Social behaviour change plays a major role in preventing the NCDs, he stated.
Emphasising on the need for creating wide awareness among the people regarding healthy living, the Health Minister also launched a media campaign on NCDs that shall leverage on different media forms.
Shripad Yesso Naik, Minister for AYUSH stressed on the need to integrate traditional medicinal practices and healthy lifestyle for leading a healthy life while B P Sharma, Secretary (Health) stated that diseases, including NCDs impose a high financial burden on the families.
Dr Saumya Swaminathan, DG, ICMR said that there is a huge potential for control and prevention of NCDs through early screening and emphasized on understanding the social-economic and cultural contexts in countering the rising NCDs and laid stress on social behavior change.
Call to 011-22901701 TO PREVENT lIFESTYlE DISEASE
Want to know if you are suffering from diabetesIJ Or want to know about preventive steps to control itIJ It's time to give a missed call to 011-22901701 and get all information on how to prevent and manage the lifestyle disease. One can also log on to www.mdiabetes.nhp.gov.in for more information. Health Minister JP Nadda on Wednesday launched the mobile health initiative mDiabetes aiming to enhance health care and early diagnosis, contribute to better adherence to drug or dietary control, self-care, as well as prevention of complications among patients with diabetes. The initiative is In collaboration with the WHO.