How developed a nation is can be determined by looking at the health of the people of the country and also the condition of its women. Holding the statement true, there are enough evidences which show that existence of tobacco use in the society is a hindrance to its growth and development. The main evidence for the same can b e summed up in the fact that nearly 80% of the world’s more than 1 billion smokers live in low and middle income countries, making the burden of tobacco related illness and death highest.

The tobacco epidemic is killing more than 7 million people a year, where more than 6 million deaths are directly because of use of tobacco and the remaining due the diseases caused due to exposure of non smokers to second hand smoke. These 7 million premature deaths deprive the victim’s families of income, rise in cost of health care, reducing productivity of the working population of the country and hence hindering the economical development of the nation. Read More.....

According to Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) 2009-2010, 34.6% population in India is consuming tobacco and out of them 14% (110.2 Millions) are smokers. Five out of ten (52.3%) are exposed to second hand smoke at home and 29.0% at public places. According to Global Youth Tobacco Survey, 2009-10 (GYTS), 21.9% of students are exposed to Second Hand Smoke at their homes. The concept of “Smoke free Homes” (SFH) is to formulate the rule and moral ethics to protect the vulnerable peoples from the second hand smoke (SHS) at homes.  Read more... 

According to Global Adult Tobacco Survey, 2009-10 23.7% adults in Haryana using tobacco in any form and among them 22.7% are daily tobacco users.  Average age of daily initiation of tobacco use in the state is 18.5 years in adults (18.4 years in males and 22.7 years in females). Additional 70.2% of adults are exposed to second-hand smoke at home and nearly 53% of adults are exposed to second-hand smoke in public places. Its neighboring States Punjab & Himachal Pardesh is performing very well in the implementation of tobacco control policies. Read more...

According to GATS (Global Adult Tobacco Survey, India, 2009-10) India is 274.9 million, with 163.7 million users of only smokeless tobacco, 68.9 million only smokers, and 42.3 million users of both smoking and smokeless tobacco. Ironically 5500 people mainly children are picking up this habit of tobacco daily. (Government of India, 2010a). Currently around 2500 people are dying every day in India due to tobacco and its consequences. Every year nearly 8–9 lakh people die due to diseases related to tobacco use in India.

Punjab has 22 districts with approximately 27.74 million people living here. Considering the population of 2.75 Crores, 33 lakh population in Punjab uses tobacco in some form or the other. About 48 persons of Punjab die every day due to tobacco use (Government of India, 2010a; Government of India, 2010b).

Read more...

'World No Tobacco Day' observance brings worldwide awareness to the health risks associated with tobacco use, and reinforces the importance of effective strategies to reduce tobacco. The day is further intended to draw attention to the widespread prevalence of tobacco use and to negative health effects, which currently lead to nearly 6 million deaths each year worldwide, including 600,000 of which are the results of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke. Read more...