SURAJ NANDREKAR
PANJIM: Almost 45 per cent of males in Goa drink alcohol and 20.8 per cent are addicted to tobacco use, says the Family Health Survey 2016-17, conducted by the Ministry of Health, Government of India.
Some 22 per cent of urban men use tobacco against 18.6 per cent in rural areas, statistics reveal. In urban areas 49.4 per cent men drink alcohol as against 37 per cent in rural areas. In sharp contrast to their counterparts, 1.9 per cent of females in Goa use tobacco and 4.2 per cent drink alcohol.
Also, 2.3 per cent women in rural areas use tobacco as against 1.7 per cent in urban areas. Similarly, 4.4 per cent women in rural areas drink alcohol against 4.2 per cent in urban areas.
Goa has held its top position in the prevalence in tobacco use, according to the latest Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) 2016-17.
Goa has topped the list with 9.7 per cent in the prevalence of current tobacco use (smoking and/or smokeless) among states/UT. Goa is closely followed by Puducherry with 11.2 per cent followed by Kerala at 12.7 per cent.
India has 81 lakh fewer tobacco users now than it did in 2010, with tobacco use falling by six percentage points in the past seven years. GATS is a global standard for systematically monitoring adult tobacco use (smoking and smokeless) and tracking key tobacco control indicators. Its latest edition involved a household survey of 74,037 people aged 15 and above across India between August 2016 and February 2017. The first was conducted in 2009-10.
GATS 2016-17 indicates India has made massive gains on account of recent anti-tobacco measures, including large pictorial warnings on product packs, higher taxes and an intensive awareness campaign. According to the survey, since 2010, there has been a comparative reduction of 33% in tobacco use among 15 to 24 year olds, and 54% among minors (15 to 17 years).
A significant finding of the survey is the fact that the age of initiation has gone up by a year between GATS 1 (2009-10) and GATS 2 (2016-17), from 17.9 years to 18.9.
“The reduction in consumption shows the government’s strong commitment to tobacco control,” said Bhavna Mukhopadhyay, chief executive, Voluntary Health Association of India.
