Breaking New Grounds in Tobacco Control - Voluntary Health ...

in Shahjahanpur, Jhunjhunu and Golaghat
(0.4, 2.1 and 3.7%, respectively). It was
6.7% in Budgam and 12.5% in Srinagar
and Jagatsinghpur.
Among educational institutions, Budgam
is the fore-runner in violations with
active smoking observed in 43.3% of the
institutions within the campus. It was
followed by 29.6% in Golaghat, Srinagar
(12.5%), Shahjahanpur (8.4%), Jhunjhunu
(2.1%) and Jagatsinghpur (0%).
Section 6 of COTPA says, there is a ban
on sale of tobacco to and by minors
and prohibition on sale of tobacco
products within 100 yards of educational
institutions.
Rules under COTPA were framed on the
recommendations of the Parliamentary
standing committee on human resource
development in 2001, which had suggested
a ban on the sale of tobacco products within
500 yards of educational institutions.
Source: The Times of India, New Delhi, 15 November, 2011
Campaigners cheer tax hike on
tobacco
The decision of the Odisha State Government
to raise value added tax on cigarettes,
bidis and every other form of tobacco
products has got the thumbs up from the
anti-tobacco campaigners and the medical
fraternity.
The move would go a long way in not only
saving a large number of lives but also
effect reduction in Government spending
on treating tobacco-related diseases, they
have asserted.
The State Government has increased VAT on
cigarettes and smokeless forms of tobacco
to 25 per cent from 13.5 per cent and
also has gone ahead to impose a 10 per
cent tax on bidis and the raw materials
that go into its making from an absolute
nil. The State has now joined the ranks
of counterparts like Kerala, Gujarat, Bihar,
Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu
and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Delhi, Tamil Nadu
and West Bengal to opt for high taxation
as a viable route for countering tobacco
menace.
Higher prices of cigarette, bidi and other
smokeless forms of tobacco like zarda,
gutka and khaini have been found to
discourage the youth at the initiation
level. They also encourage addicts and
users to quit the habit. Studies on price
elasticity in India have found that a 10
per cent increase in tobacco prices has
led to reduction in bidi consumption by
9.1 per cent and cigarette consumption by
2.6 per cent, manager of the anti-tobacco
campaign organisation Voluntary Health
Association of India (VHAI- Aparajita)
Itishree Kanungo.
According to the Global Adult Tobacco
Survey (GATS) India 2010, about 46.2
per cent of the population in Orissa uses
tobacco in one form or the other. About
4.7 per cent smoke cigarettes, 6.5 per cent
bidi and an overwhelmingly high 43 per
cent chew tobacco in different kinds.
This has resulted in very high incidence
of oral, head and neck cancers. Orissa
ranks among the states with highest
incidence of oral cancer. These cancers
are being seen mostly among the lower
income groups. Besides, the youth are
also imbibing the habit further increasing
the threat of cancer and other serious
disease burdens as a fallout. The increase
in tax is a step in the right direction and
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January - March & April - June 2012