BHUBANESWAR: The State Government is set to extend the National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP) to the district level and cover the entire population. The Government is committed to the cause of tobacco control and is taking steps to generate awareness among the people,” Health Minister Prasanna Acharya said on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day today. The NTCP has been launched in the districts of Cuttack and Khurda and would be extended to other districts soon. People should be educated on the serious impact of tobacco habit. There is a need for collective action to fight tobacco and address the health problems, he said at a function organised by the Government in association with the Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI)- Aparajita. While the Government is building up its mechanisms on tobacco control, the habit has begun to take a heavy toll on the State. As high as 46 per cent of all adults in Orissa use tobacco in some form or the other. Smokeless tobacco is the prevalent habit among the people with 36 per cent accounting for it. Three per cent smoke and seven per cent do both, according to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey. The age of tobacco initiation is quite low in the State ranging between 15-17 years while abuse among women is astoundingly high at 36.2 per cent, the survey has revealed. Tobacco, in fact, is the major cause of all serious diseases. Ninety per cent of all oral cancers in the State are attributed to tobacco consumption. Taking part in the observance function, Health Secretary Anu Garg highlighted the actions of the Health Department in association with police and social organisations in tobacco control. Among others, MLA Bijay Mohanty and VHAI coordinators Shisir Ranjan Das and Itishree Kanungo were present. A photo exhibition was also organised.
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