UPSC Articles
The International Commission to Reignite the Fight Against Smoking
Part of: Prelims and GS-II – Health
Context A report on smoking was recently released by “The International Commission to Reignite the Fight Against Smoking”, which makes specific recommendations to achieve the goal of ending smoking worldwide.
About the commission
- The commission has members from the U.S., the U.K., South Africa, Indonesia and India.
- It examines several important issues, including the trends in tobacco use, challenges to cessation efforts, the emergence of technological innovations, lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, etc.
Key findings
- All countries ban marketing and direct sales of tobacco products to children, but in low-to-middle income countries these prohibitions are not rigorously enforced.
- Despite prohibitions in India, many schools have nearby vendors displaying tobacco products which are appealing to children and youth. An estimated 54% of the points of sale had no visible health warning.
- India is among countries with the lowest quit rates for smoking. The quit rates for men are less than 20%.
- China and India are home to more than 500 million tobacco users between the ages of 16 and 64.
- Tobacco prevalence in India is three times higher among men than women. India also accounts for some of the highest rates of smokeless tobacco use and oral cancer in the world.
Recommendations
- Adopting best practices to combat misinformation
- Build a healthier information environment to reduce harm from tobacco.
- Leveraging multi-national, multi-disciplinary and participatory foresight studies.
- Advocating risk-proportionate regulations as a means of making it easier for smokers to switch quit
