Without periodic inspections, anti-tobacco campaign falters

VISAKHAPATNAM: While

World No Tobacco day

is observed on May 31, there is not much to cheer about as far as

tobacco

control in the district is concerned. With no law enforcement body to monitor and enforce the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), rampant sale of

banned

tobacco products in most roadside ‘paan’ shops continues in both urban and rural areas.


Moreover, despite previous efforts to make 10 villages in the district smoke and tobacco-free, the campaign has come to a standstill, without any follow-ups. The campaign was based on reports of research projects by the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and Nature NGO.

The 10 villages are Degalapalem, Balabadram, Bheemavaram, Gondhipakalu, Chinarajupakalu, Boyapadu, Bangarammapeta, Damsarai, Tunivalasa and Ramakrishnapuram. The villages are located in GK Veedhi, Chintapalli, Ananthagiri, Padmanabham and Yelamanchili mandals.

B Balaraju, founder of the NGO Nature said, “Sadly, due to a lack of consolidated programme involving various stakeholders such as ITDA, police, revenue, panchayat and health departments, tobacco usage is going on unchecked. There is no periodic checking, no effective law enforcement, no proper awareness activity and efforts to identify high risk villages and therefore, tobacco products are also being sold even in the vicinity or within 100 metres of educational institutes against the COTPA Act.”

When contacted, city assistant commissioner of police (ACP), task force M Mahendra said, “Due to the elections, we could not focus much on the anti-tobacco campaign but now we will be actively keeping a watch. We are seizing huge consignments of tobacco products, which mainly comes from states like Odisha and West Bengal, where tobacco is not banned.”

According to district medical and health officials, there are around 1.8 crore

smokers

in both Telugu states combined. Smokers are as young as 17, while tobacco chewing (gutkha and paan masala) is prevalent among 15-year-olds as well. The percentage of smokers in Andhra Pradesh is highest in southern India. At 14.2 per cent, it is around four percent above the national average of 10.7 per cent.