‘Thamboolam therapy’ for tobacco addicts

KOZHIKODE: In a bid to wean tribesmen away from their deeply-entrenched tobacco-chewing habit, a major cause for cancer, Wayanad’s Ayush department is distributing tobacco-free thamboolam chewing packs in tribal colonies as an experiment.
‘Arogya Thamboolam’, which finds a mention in Siddha medical texts like Siddha Vaidhya Thirattu, comprises betel leaf wrapping containing small quantities of nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, tailed pepper, along with a dash of lime and betel nut.
Ayush tribal medical unit in Wayanad under National Health Mission (NHM) has distributed Arogya Thamboolam packs in many tribal colonies where tobacco chewing is widespread. They plan to cover over 30 colonies identified under the programme.
“There are colonies where over 80% adults have this habit. It has been a major factor in the increased incidents of head and neck cancers among the community. Asking them to stop chewing tobacco will not work and we thought of providing thamboolam packs as a chewing alternative,” said Dr Arun Baby, siddha medical officer under Ayush department in Wayanad.
He said the ingredients in thamboolam packs, mostly spices, can have positive health benefits, but added that betel nut and lime can have side-effects and people should use them in moderation. Dr Baby said the tribal medical unit is giving awareness classes to tribesmen to stop this habit and how to prepare this thamboolam with its ingredients.
“Thamboolam chewing can help resist the temptation of chewing tobacco and spices, which are used to prepare it, are also readily available in the area. We have distributed it in four colonies and the response was positive. But, proper follow-up action and continuous counselling is needed for success,” he added.
NHM district programme manager Dr B Abhilash said the district had a higher rate of oral cancer compared to others in the state and a major cause might be the widespread tobacco-chewing habit. Also, most oral cancers are detected late, leading to lower survival rates.