Initiative launched to curb tobacco consumption in Gujarat

About 60 per cent males and 8.4 per cent females in Gujarat consume tobacco, according to the 2005-06 National Family Health Survey report. All indicators show that the trend of tobacco consumption across Gujarat has only gone up.

As per the Gujarat Cancer Research Institute report of 2008-09, in rural areas 36.04 per cent of the total registered cases of cancer in Ahmedabad were tobacco induced; while the same figure for urban areas was 36.67 per cent.
Considering the 22 per cent contribution of Gujarat to the national tobacco production and the increase in consumption trends, a project called Strengthening of Tobacco Control Efforts Through Innovative Partnerships and Strategies (STEPS) is being implemented by Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), a public-private initiative. STEPS aims to reduce the health and economic burden of India, contributing to the National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP).

Through STEPS, efforts are being made to control the use of tobacco among different age groups across six districts of Gujarat, namely Banaskantha, Rajkot, Kheda, Anand and Surat. Various activities under different modules would be taken up to keep a check and reduce tobacco consumption.

"Considering the fact that the initiation age for tobacco consumption in Gujarat is much early, one of the modules of STEPS involves intervening with the schools across the state in association with the department of education. This will help prevention of tobacco consumption at the grass-roots level. Additionally, at the rural level, STEPS plans to form a voluntary body - Community Against Tobacco (CAT) that will visit kiosks and monitor the tobacco consumption and sale," said state coordinator STEPS Mayur Trivedi.