Awareness drives, pictorial warnings didn't go up in smoke after all

Tobacco use dips from 28.2% to 22.8% in eight years, shows survey

The consumption of tobacco products has significantly come down in the state as per the report of the Global Adult Tobacco Survey for 2016-2017.

The report states that overall tobacco use has declined among adults in Karnataka from 28.2% in 2009-2010 to 22.8% recorded in 2016-2017.

The report says smoking has decreased among adults from 11.9% to 8.8% during the survey period. Smokeless tobacco use has decreased by 3.1%.  

The prevalence of tobacco use among persons aged 15-17 years has decreased from 6.8% to 3.7%. The mean age to begin the use of tobacco has increased from 17.7 to 19.8 years, which means that children are starting to use tobacco at a later age than earlier.

The use of betel quid with tobacco, bidi and gutka are the three most commonly used tobacco products, wherein 9.4% of adults use betel quid with tobacco and 5.9% of adults each smoke bidi and use gutka.

The survey was conducted by interviewing a total of 74,037 individuals across India during August 2016 to February 2017. In Karnataka, a total of 1,311 males and 1,403 females were interviewed during September-October 2016.

The report said the awareness about the harmful effects of both smokeless and smoked tobacco use has increased in the state, both through effective packet warnings and information broadcast through various forms of media.

Large pack warnings of 85%, in particular, have made a strong impression on current tobacco users and have motivated them to consider quitting, especially cigarette and beedi smokers.