TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Cases of oral cancer in Goa are among the lowest in the country registering 22 percent in comparison to the almost 45 percent in some parts of India.
As the main cause of oral cancer is tobacco consumption, Dr Shekar Salkar, General Secretary of National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE) and oncologist, said the government and NGOs should focus on raising awareness among children.
“The initiation begins at a very young age in most cases. It is here where more efforts need to be put. Children as young as eight sometimes fall into the evil habit of smoking. Consumption of tobacco is a step towards drug abuse. If it is stopped at a young age, it would prevent the number of drug cases,” said Salkar.
The theme of this year’s World No Tobacco Day celebrated on May 31 pertains to the illegal trade of tobacco. “There may have been a decrease on purchase of tobacco packets but illegal sale still exists. For example, the flea market is one place that sells tobacco illegally,” he said adding that the police and the collectorates that are in charge of conducting raids need to be stricter with law enforcement.
The prevalence of the habit of smoking tobacco in Goa has decreased from 15 percent to 8.8 percent this year, a sign of the changing times said Salkar, but also highlighted the availability of single cigarettes, a trend that could be dangerous for younger generations.
“Since they don’t have a lot of money, children have the tendency of buying single cigarettes which are much cheaper than entire packets. For this reason, loose sale of cigarettes needs to be banned,” said Salkar.
Sale of gutka, however, continues. Salkar opined that it is mostly shared and consumed among the migrant communities and so makes it difficult to track and keep a watch on.
