The Burden of Tobacco
(1) Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the world. According to the World Health Organization, each year 5.4 million lives are lost all over the world because of tobacco use.
(2) Out of these 9 lakh deaths occur in India alone. 2500 Indians lose their lives each day because of tobacco use.
(3) India has the highest number of oral cancer cases in the world and 90% of all oral cancers are tobacco related and 40% of all cancers in India are due to tobacco use.
(4) It is estimated that by 2010, nearly 10 lakh people will die because of smoking in India and it is predicted that by 2020 tobacco will account for 13% of all deaths in India.
(5) According to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), 2006, 5500 Indian youth start smoking every day.
(6) Health cost of tobacco related diseases are greater than the income generated from tobacco. According to a new study the direct medical cost for treating diseases related to smoking cigarettes, bidis etc., in India is 907 million US dollars (4535 crore rupees) and for smokeless tobacco products like gutkha, zarda and khaini, this cost is 285 million US dollars (1425 crore rupees).
Credits: this advocacy card is published and distributed by Indian Society Against Smoking (ISAS), Asha Parivar. We acknowledge the financial contribution received from Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco use and technical contribution received from HRIDAY on behalf of Advocacy Forum for Tobacco Control - AFTC (Delhi).
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