State to launch tobacco free Gujarat campaign

With a view to discouraging tobacco consumption in the state, Gujarat government has decided to launch a media campaign to aware and educate people about the illeffects of tobacco and related diseases. As part of the campaign, Ahmedabad district and city as well as Gandhinagar have been identified for starting a pilot project.

The media campaigned will be kicked-off in association with Bloomberg Initiative, a charity foundation which will provide $ 5 lakh for the first year of the campaign and $ 3 lakh for the second year.

"As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), around 54 lakh people died of tobacco related diseases in the year 2005. The figure is estimated to touch a massive 100 crore by the end of this century, 80 per cent of which would be in developing countries such as India," Jaynarayan Vyas, health minister of the state, today said while announcing the new campaign, which vows to make Gujarat tobacco free.

Around 57 per cent males in India consume tabacco, while this percentage in Gujarat is higher at 60 per cent. "The state consumes around 35 per cent of non-smoked tobacco," he added.

"Tobacco is the single largest preventable cause of death in the world and it kills more than AIDS and tuberculosis," said Shalini Vallabhan, representative, International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union).

"Awareness regarding tobacco and diseases caused by it is critically needed and the tobacco menace has necessitated a multi-progned action by state governments and other stakeholders," she added.

It may be mentioned here that Gujarat government in its budget 2010-11 increased the Value Added Tax (VAT) on tobacco and its products.