NAGPUR: Most of us know that tobacco kills tens of thousands of people at a young age in India, with Vidarbha being the capital of oral cancer due to the excessive consumption of ‘kharra’, the local form of chewable tobacco. But the loss is not just limited to those who chew or smoke tobacco.
Doctors said tobacco is destroying our environment, hitting our GDP badly and killing even those who neither smoke, nor chew it and hardly get exposed to passive smoking.
Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Hospital head and neck surgeon Dr (Major) Vaibhav Chandankhede said, “Right from the cultivation, production, distribution and consumption to post-consumer waste, tobacco is harmful and a killer at every stage.”
He said tobacco is poisoning our water, soil and streets with chemicals, toxic waste and cigarette butts. “In Vidarbha, many poor women into tobacco growing, curing and manufacturing process are suffering from deadly cancers despite never smoking or chewing it,” Chandankhede added.
Radiation oncologist Dr Mangesh Patil said the age of cancer patients is reducing dangerously in the last few years. “I have seen oral cancer patients as young as 20 and 25 years old. It takes 10-15 years of constant tobacco use to get cancer. This means our kids are starting tobacco use as early as 6-8 years,” he said.
Patil added, “The most common excuse of smokers is that even non-smokers get cancer. But tobacco users have a 100% chance of getting cancer. What is the point of using tobacco when it guarantees contraction of cancer?”
Cancer surgeon Dr Nitin Bomanwar said rural areas are at greater risk. “When I visit villages, I observe very young children consuming tobacco-related products. I have seen their parents handing over tobacco to them, which is disconcerting,” he said.
Bomanwar added, “Unfortunately, cigarettes have become a style symbol. For a bright future and a healthy quality of life, tobacco should be avoided by all.”
Veteran pulmonologist Dr Ashok Arbat said most tobacco users carry a “nothing will happen to me” attitude with them. “However, tobacco will definitely cause harm at some point. It leads to personal, mental and family conflict and society suffers too,” Arbat said.
The department of pulmonary medicine of the Super Specialty Hospital in Nagpur has released scary data regarding lung cancer. “42% lung cancer patients we treated this year were smokers. 58% of them were men and all men were addicted to smoking,” said head of the department and senior pulmonologist Dr Sushant Meshram.
CASCADE EFFECT
GDP loss | India loses 1% of its GDP to diseases and early deaths from tobacco use: WHO
Environmental degradation | Tobacco cultivation, processing, waste management results in water, soil and air pollution
Occupational hazard | People who are in tobacco cultivation get cancer every year even without smoking or chewing it
Not just oral cancer | 16 other types of cancers including lung, stomach, liver, food pipe happen due to tobacco’s direct/indirect use
