<p>Pakistan’s Sindh province is reported to have banned ‘Mainpuri tambakoo’ because of increasing number of oral cancer cases there and in Mainpuri district, Uttar Pradesh, where the product is manufactured. <br /><br /></p>.<p>The alarming phenomenon has also been noticed by doctors and activists in Uttar Pradesh. But the UP government seems to be ignoring the fact. <br /><br />‘Mainpuri tambakoo’, contains betel nut, camphor, tobacco, cinnamon, clove and slaked lime. <br /><br />“The government is not worried and hardly anything has been done to prevent the widespread use of Mainpuri tambakoo in the area,” said Manoj Chaturvedi, activist in Mainpuri. <br /><br />Although the district has the state’s first cancer treatment centre it is hardly functional, due to scarcity of technically sound staff. “Experts say by the time it becomes operational, the machines and equipment installed will become obsolete," Chaturvedi added.<br /><br />In the last 13 years, over 46,000 people registered for tests and treatment and many were referred to Agra or Mumbai hospitals. <br /><br />Records of the Sarojini Naidu Medical College Hospital in Agra also suggest that people suffering from oral cancer were more in Mainpuri than in Agra.<br /><br />While the Indian government has done nothing about the manufacture of ‘Mainpuri tambakoo’, the Sindh government in Pakistan has banned its use. “The tobacco smuggled from Uttar Pradesh was banned by the Sindh province as physicians had warned against its effects,” said a December report in ‘Dawn’. <br /><br />“Gutka and Mainpuri tambakoo are causing cancer and most victims are men,” Qaiser Sajjad, senior member of the Pakistan Medical Association, was qouted as saying<br />The situation is similar in Agra and Mainpuri, where the number of oral cancer cases is increasing at an alarming rate. “It is a very serious matter.More than 70 per cent in the age group of 30 to 45 cannot open their mouth fully in Mainpuri,” said medical activist, Anand Rai. <br /><br />“We get a lot of cases of mouth ulcers with white patches, a precursor to cancer, but I am surprised that the state health authorities have not come out with a concerted and focused programme to attack this problem, especially when you know the cause and the endemic area,” Rai added. <br /><br />Not only grown up men, but now even students and women are addicted to Mainpuri tobacco. <br /><br />“Many come to Agra for treatment at Kamayani Hospital and Sandeep Agarwal's hospital for treatment.The local Mainpuri tobacco contains a high percentage of known hydrocarbon generating substances which have a carcinogenic effect. The health department should wake up now” Rai said. <br /><br />There have been agitations against the manufacture of the product earlier but there were no results.</p>
<p>Pakistan’s Sindh province is reported to have banned ‘Mainpuri tambakoo’ because of increasing number of oral cancer cases there and in Mainpuri district, Uttar Pradesh, where the product is manufactured. <br /><br /></p>.<p>The alarming phenomenon has also been noticed by doctors and activists in Uttar Pradesh. But the UP government seems to be ignoring the fact. <br /><br />‘Mainpuri tambakoo’, contains betel nut, camphor, tobacco, cinnamon, clove and slaked lime. <br /><br />“The government is not worried and hardly anything has been done to prevent the widespread use of Mainpuri tambakoo in the area,” said Manoj Chaturvedi, activist in Mainpuri. <br /><br />Although the district has the state’s first cancer treatment centre it is hardly functional, due to scarcity of technically sound staff. “Experts say by the time it becomes operational, the machines and equipment installed will become obsolete," Chaturvedi added.<br /><br />In the last 13 years, over 46,000 people registered for tests and treatment and many were referred to Agra or Mumbai hospitals. <br /><br />Records of the Sarojini Naidu Medical College Hospital in Agra also suggest that people suffering from oral cancer were more in Mainpuri than in Agra.<br /><br />While the Indian government has done nothing about the manufacture of ‘Mainpuri tambakoo’, the Sindh government in Pakistan has banned its use. “The tobacco smuggled from Uttar Pradesh was banned by the Sindh province as physicians had warned against its effects,” said a December report in ‘Dawn’. <br /><br />“Gutka and Mainpuri tambakoo are causing cancer and most victims are men,” Qaiser Sajjad, senior member of the Pakistan Medical Association, was qouted as saying<br />The situation is similar in Agra and Mainpuri, where the number of oral cancer cases is increasing at an alarming rate. “It is a very serious matter.More than 70 per cent in the age group of 30 to 45 cannot open their mouth fully in Mainpuri,” said medical activist, Anand Rai. <br /><br />“We get a lot of cases of mouth ulcers with white patches, a precursor to cancer, but I am surprised that the state health authorities have not come out with a concerted and focused programme to attack this problem, especially when you know the cause and the endemic area,” Rai added. <br /><br />Not only grown up men, but now even students and women are addicted to Mainpuri tobacco. <br /><br />“Many come to Agra for treatment at Kamayani Hospital and Sandeep Agarwal's hospital for treatment.The local Mainpuri tobacco contains a high percentage of known hydrocarbon generating substances which have a carcinogenic effect. The health department should wake up now” Rai said. <br /><br />There have been agitations against the manufacture of the product earlier but there were no results.</p>
