ICPO becomes WHO-FCTC knowledge hub on smokeless tobacco use

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has made Noida based Institute of Cytology and Preventive Oncology (ICPO) a Knowledge Hub in India for "Smokeless Tobacco Use." This is the seventh knowledge hub of WHO-FCTC (Framework Convention on Tobacco Control) around the globe.

The six hubs are in Australia, Finland, Lebanon, Korea, South Africa and Uruguay. The Knowledge Hub in Korea is self-funded. These centres are however, working on different areas of tobacco control like trade and tobacco litigation, surveillance, policy monitoring, illicit trade in tobacco products.

The ICPO, a cancer research institute which works under Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), will be a specialised centre on Smokeless Tobacco use. Smokeless tobacco is used orally which results in absorption of nicotine and other chemicals across mucus membranes. This leads to severe health complications and also to mouth cancers.

Ravi Mehrotra, ICPO Director, said that the Knowledge Centre will have expertise on tobacco control. "This will be developed as a vital platform for information sharing. We will develop and implement work plan for intervention. The Knowledge Hub will also report and evaluate the existing plans of the government of use of tobacco products," he said. The WHO will fund the Hub for initial two years. The government of India will then take bear the financial cost.

WHO FCTC is a global public health treaty aiming to tackle some causes of that epidemic related to the use of tobacco products. This advocates price and tax measures as effective means to reduce the demand for tobacco. It also demands for adoption and implementation of effective measures to provide protection from exposure to tobacco products to minors.

The idea to set up a Knowledge Hub in ICPO was due to rising number of smokeless tobacco users in India. A report of National Cancer Institute, United States, entitled Smokeless Tobacco and Public Health, A Global Perspective (2014), prepared by 32 experts from around the world, revealed that at least 80% of smokeless tobacco users globally live in India and Bangladesh. 

"Smokeless tobacco is used by about 300 million people in at least 70 countries, 89% of whom live in the South-East Asia Region, all low and middle-income countries," the report states.

The Noida based WHO FCTC Knowledge Hub will work on the education, communication, training for public awareness on tobacco control issues.