Kashmir Digits

Kashmir has a tobacco problem.

In what is a news of great concern and worry Kashmir spends a staggering 600 Crore on the purchase of tobacco products annually.

Srinagar, Anantnag and Baramulla top the list. Srinagar spends  122 cr, Anantnag 2nd with 103 cr, Baramulla 3rd with 98 cr.

Kupwara Rs 84 crore, Pulwama Rs 55 crore, Kulgam Rs 41 crore, Bandipora Rs 37 crore, Ganderbal Rs 29 crore, and Shopian Rs 26 crore. However, the figures for Budgam district are not available.

These are the figures based on a survey conducted earlier by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India (GoI) to assess the tobacco use in the valley.

The workshop was jointly inaugurated by Director Health Services Kashmir, Dr Mushtaq Ahmed Rather and Mission Director National Health Mission (NHM) J&K, Dr Yaseen Choudhary.

Concerning

Dr Mushtaq appealed to youth to get rid of the menace and help in fighting the same to save the people.

“We need to have a comprehensive strategy so that we can fight the tobacco menace in society. As we all know, tobacco is a known health hazard and is responsible for many diseases prevalent in society, particularly various cancers, cardiac diseases and many more,” he said.

Dr Mushtaq said the tobacco usage not only affects health adversely but drains families and communities economically as well.

“In order to save the society from the adverse effects of smoking and tobacco we need to put heads together to frame a strategy which will go a long way in curbing this menace from the society,” he said.

Staggering Figure

Director NHM, Dr Yaseen Choudhary said spending 600 crore in a year is a staggering figure.

“We need to work hard. It is draining our economy. We need to come up with strategies we need to work to wipe out this menace to save the people,” he said.On the occasion Dr M Saleem Khan, HOD Community Medicine GMC Srinagar gave a presentation on the health hazards of tobacco and gave an overview of the current situation of tobacco usage in Jammu and Kashmir.

Dr Mohammad Naseer, program coordinator of Union of Tobacco and Lung Diseases, an NGO working in collaboration with the NTCP, said tobacco sale was a big problem in J&K saying it had caused a rise in lung cancer.

“Illegal and loose cigarettes are being sold rampantly,” he said. “There should be monitoring to prevent people from second-hand smoking.”

Naseer said the tobacco industry was the least remunerative and an exploitative industry which pushes people to further poverty.