New Delhi, July 29 (IANS) Tobacco use among women and adolescents has declined, said Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav, in the Parliament on Tuesday.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Jadhav stated the decline in tobacco use, citing two global surveys.

“As per the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) -I (2009-10) and GATS-2 (2016-17) conducted among the age group of 15 years and above, there is a decline in tobacco use among women from 20.3 per cent to 14.2 per cent,” the Minister said.

“The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) conducted for school-going children of age group 13-15 years reported a decline in tobacco use from 14.6 per cent (GYTS-3, 2009) to 8.5 per cent (GYTS-4, 2019),” he added.

Jadhav also shared the measures undertaken by the Health Ministry to reduce tobacco consumption among women and children in the country.

The Ministry enacted a comprehensive legislation, namely the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003 (COTPA 2003), to regulate the tobacco products and to discourage the consumption of tobacco.

“The provisions under COTPA, 2003 and the Rules made thereunder prohibit smoking in public places, ban on sale of tobacco products to and by minors, sale of tobacco products within a radius of 100 yards of educational institutions, prohibition on direct and indirect advertising of tobacco products and mandatory display of specified health warnings on all tobacco product packs,” Jadav said.

In 2007, the National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP) was launched to discourage the use of tobacco, create awareness about the harmful effects of tobacco consumption through regular and sustained public awareness campaigns, and ensure effective implementation of the provisions under COTPA 2003.

As part of these, the Ministry launches a 60-day annual Tobacco Free Youth Campaign to educate young people about the dangers of tobacco and empower them to resist or quit its use.

The Government has also enforced a complete ban on electronic cigarettes, including heat-not-burn products, under “The Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement) Act,2019, Jadhav.

–IANS

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