Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Ban Tobacco' that was published in Newsband

Ban Tobacco

To prevent deaths owing to cancer it is essential that the ban on the sale of gutka and pan masala containing tobacco be effectively enforced. The control of tobacco is an integral part of global public health strategies to reduce the incidence of cancer and the growing burden of non-communicable disease.

About 52 per cent of oral cancers are attributable to the consumption of smokeless tobacco products. State governments must take extraordinary measures to ban tobacco. The delay in implementation of a ban on gutka and pan masala is caused by legal hurdles.

Aggressive international efforts are being taken to curb the sale of tobacco products, with the help of NGOs. These agencies, such as the Asia Pacific Association for the Control of Tobacco, have forged alliances that cover entire countries and regions, and they meet regularly to discuss experiences and strategies. Evidently, the ban on gutka and pan masala containing tobacco could be enforced because there is a law against the addition of harmful substances to food.

There is need to bring smoked tobacco, including bidis, under similar control. Until all forms of consumption of tobacco are banned, tobacco will continue to take a heavy toll.

Ban on Gutka and pan Masala for sure will be a good step. Curbing the demand and supply - both are important. The first step for sure is to prohibit selling and manufacture of such products. But if we fail to curb demand the state is giving rise to another smuggling commodity, another mafia on the rolls. Just for consideration the major consumers of these pouches of death are people Below Poverty Line.

We need to design public policy or legislation. Apart from nationwide ban of chewable tobacco, it is necessary to wean away farmers who grow tobacco leaves from doing that by offering compensation and alternative crops. Unless we are able to effectively minimize manufacturer of cigarettes, bidis, gutka and similar tobacco products, we may not succeed in minimizing the spread of tobacco related cancer.

Time has also come to recover a major portion of cost of treatment of cancer victims, whose ailment can be directly linked with consumption of a finished tobacco product, from all companies who manufacture tobacco products in some form or the other.

But as often reported by media, big kings in Gutka making are close ally to our esteemed and patriot politicians - hence even if all states ban it - we can easily find the strands of pouches being sold everywhere.

Nevertheless, 24 states and Union Territories banned the manufacture, storage and sale of gutka and pan masala but failed to implement the same in letter and spirit. Therefore, the need of the hour is to check illegal supply chain and sale of tobacco products. Further, the respective states and UTs should ban all forms of tobacco products including bidis to achieve "Tobacco Free Nation" as well as "Cancer Free Nation".

However, a ban in itself will not produce the desired effect if there is an absence of a dedicated monitoring agency. There is also need to create awareness among people about harmful effects of tobacco especially in rural areas where people are most affected by it.