Tobacco Control Champion citation conferred on Kerala Chief Minister

Dr Paul Sebastian, Director, Regional Cancer Centre and Vice Chairman, Tobacco Free Kerala and Shri Sukumaran, a tobacco-induced oral cancer victim conferring the citation of 'Tobacco Control Champion' on Hon'ble Kerala Chief Minister Shri Oommen Chandy at his official residence Cliff House on
2 October. 

The citation is signed by Dr Sebastian and Dr KR Thankappan, Prof and Head, Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies of SCTIMST. 

It is a token of appreciation and gratitude by Kerala's tobacco control fraternity for the Chief Minister's outstanding leadership to the cause of public health in Kerala through far-reaching tobacco control measures over the past four years. 

A note on Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) 2016 was also submitted to the Chief Minister. GATS is the global standard initiated by the World Health Organisation to systematically monitor adult tobacco use and track key tobacco control indicators. The next round of GATS is expected to begin in India and Kerala during January 2016.

62-year-old Sukumaran also shared his experiences with Shri Chandy. 

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Government to launch 'M Cessation' to help kick tobacco habit

There is good news for people wanting to quit tobacco. 

The government will soon offer a mobile phone-based intervention to tobacco users where they will be counselled to kick the habit.

The Union Health Ministry will launch "Mobile(m) Cessation" to develop tobacco use abstinence among people interested in quitting. 

As part of the programme, tobacco users can enroll themselves by giving a missed call to a particular phone number after which they will be asked three to four questions through SMS like their educational qualifications, work status and the age of onset of tobacco use. 

After these details are fed into the system, the tobacco users will start getting three to four messages daily which will counsel and consistently motivate them to quit tobacco, said Additional Director (Health) S K Arora, who is coordinating this project on behalf of the Delhi government. 

"We can quit smoking and chewable tobacco use or any other substance abuse by strengthening our will power, the way we stop use of such products suddenly during religious days like Navratra etc. 

"This m cessation will strengthen the will power of a tobacco user through counselling and consistently motivate them to quit the habit," said Dr Arora. 

"Mobile phones are used by a large number of people because of which we believe that these will play a key role in encouraging people  .. 

India is home to the world's second largest number of tobacco users (around 275 million). The Government of India had last year set a target of reducing tobacco use by 20 per cent by 2020 and 30 per cent by 2025. 

Forty per cent of all cancers, 90 per cent of oral cancers and 30 per cent of TB cases are due to tobacco use. In India, 9-10 lakh people die every year due to tobacco habits, according to government data. 

Source: Economic Times

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Economic burden from tobacco-induced heart diseases highest in Kerala amongst southern states

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) account for a staggering Rs 226 crore economic burden annually, the highest among four major tobacco-induced ailments in Kerala, contributing to 51 per cent of total direct medical costs.

Significantly, the total direct medical costs from tobacco-induced CVDs in Kerala are the highest among south Indian states, says a latest report.

The report is based on study called ‘Economic Burden of Tobacco Related Diseases in India’ developed by Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) with support from the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The study report covers both direct medical costs and indirect morbidity costs of four specific diseases – CVDs, cancer, tuberculosis, and respiratory disease.

The direct medical costs from tobacco-related heart diseases in neighbouring Tamil Nadu is 46 per cent, while those in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are at 48 and 40 per cent, respectively.

Smoking tobacco contributes to the highest economic burden among Kerala males with direct costs of Rs 123.5 crores, and indirect costs of Rs 62.7 crores.  

The report estimated the economic costs on persons in the 35–69 age group in 2011.

Direct medical costs include direct healthcare expenditure for inpatient hospitalisation or outpatient visits such as medicines, diagnostic tests, bed charges, and surgeon’s fees. Indirect costs accrue from expenses on transportation and lodging for caregivers and loss of household income due to inpatient hospitalisation, besides costs from premature deaths. 

According to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) 2009-10, the global standard to systematically monitor adult tobacco use, 35.5 per cent of males use tobacco in some form, 27.9 per cent males smoke and 13.1 per cent use smokeless tobacco products.

The economic burden study has suggested a host of measures to deal with the tobacco menace. These include strengthening implementation of Indian tobacco control law, COTPA, 2003 and imposing uniform taxes on all tobacco products like cigarettes and bidis. It has also recommended prohibition of sale and manufacture of all forms of smokeless tobacco products/chewing tobacco and high visibility public awareness campaigns to consistently reach out to different target audiences.

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