Team Herald
PANJIM: With Central government passing an Ordinance banning E-cigarettes in the country, the trade representatives from Goa feel that the electronic mode of the system is the only option to curb the growing menace of diseases related to tobacco consumption.
TRENDS, the voluntary association of Trade Representatives of (ENDS) Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems in India – a group of importers, distributors, and marketers of ENDS in a letter to the chief minister, pointed out that Union Health Ministry did not undertake any research, study or comparative assessment of risks associated with different methods of tobacco intake by Indians in all the years it has been sending advisories to States to ban E-cigarettes. TRENDS convenor Praveen Rikhy urged the chief minister to request the Central Government to allow the State Health Department to conduct their own research and study so that a rational decision that benefits the maximum number of people of the State can be taken.”
“Health is a state subject and the immense cost of diseases connected to tobacco consumption falls on the State exchequer. After all, if there is a safer alternative to cigarette smoking, which cuts cancer incidence by 50 per cent, why should your State not offer the option to smokers,” she said.
“In the State of Goa, the statistics for tobacco consumption is quite alarming, with overall tobacco users (15 years and above) at 9.7 and smokers at 4.2%,” Rikhy added.
“E-Cigarettes could be a solution for both – smokers who want to move to a less harmful option and the State which profits from lower health costs and better mortality rates,” she said.
