Directors of cancer centres ask for nationwide ban on gutka

Till date, 16 states and three Union Territories (UTs) have implemented the ban on gutka and pan masala with tobacco/nicotine under the Food Safety and Standards Act. Now the directors of 12 regional cancer centres in India along with the Indian Dental Association and Tata Memorial Hospital have written letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, urging them to implement the ban in the remaining states as well.

Raising serious concerns over the growing gutka/paan masala menace, the directors have urged the Centre to take speedy action to completely ban the manufacture and sale of all smokeless tobacco products throughout the country. Findings have shown that gutka and pan masala contain tobacco, nicotine and magnesium carbonate, responsible for causing oral cancer.

Tobacco is a crime against humanity and cancer patients are the victims of the tobacco industry. Indian youth are dying of mouth cancer in epidemic proportions. Gutka is one of the most deadly avatars of tobacco that is unique to India, said head and neck surgeon Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi of Tata Memorial Hospital.

A nationwide gutka ban will prevent millions of youth from dying prematurely and save crores of rupees spent on health care, he added.

As per Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) India, over 80,000 fresh cases of oral cancer are being reported in the country annually. The data estimates the number of tobacco users in the country as 275 million of which 25.9 per cent are smokeless tobacco users, while 5.7 per cent are cigarette smokers and 9.2 per cent smoke bidi. About 8.2% of the Indian population is hooked to gutka and 25.9% to other smokeless tobacco like betel quid with tobacco, gul, gudaku, khaini, mishri, etc., the findings showed.

The states and union territories to ban gutka are Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Jharkand, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, Mizoram, Goa, Chandigarh.