Nearly 5.1 per cent of the surveyed 3,765 school students aged 13-15 years from 35 schools in the state are tobacco consumers, the Global Youth Tobacco Survey-4 (GYTS-4) has revealed. (Representational) Even though the sale of tobacco products to minors is prohibited under the Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products Act (COPTA) 2003, nearly 5.1 per cent of the surveyed 3,765 school students aged 13-15 years from 35 schools in Maharashtra are tobacco consumers, the Global Youth Tobacco Survey-4 (GYTS-4) has revealed.
The survey was conducted as part of a national survey by the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in 2019. This is the first time a state-wise GYTS has been carried out in India as a component of the Global Tobacco Surveillance System.
Under section-6 of COPTA, no tobacco product can be sold to and by any person under the age of 18 years. Also, sale of tobacco products is prohibited in an area within a radius of 100 yards of any educational institution.
In violation of these rules, 63 per cent of the cigarette smokers and 70 per cent of bidi smokers bought the products from store, paan shop, street vendor or vending machines. Among the surveyed children, 30 per cent of cigarette smokers and 43 per cent of bidi smokers said they were not refused the intoxicant by the seller despite their minor status.
Besides, a glaring gender gap was seen in sourcing of cigarettes. Compared to 57.4 per cent of boys, 77.2 per cent girls bought cigarettes. In fact, in comparison to boys, fewer girls were refused tobacco products on account of being minors.
R Nagarajan, professor of Development Studies, said, “The gender-wise (1.8 per cent boys and 0.9 per cent girls) differences of cigarette users is less. When we will do an in-depth analysis of the data, we will have better reasoning why more girls bought cigarettes from stores.”
The survey showed that 20 per cent of the students — 28 per cent boys and 7 per cent girls – tried quitting smoking in the past 12 months when the survey was being held. Dr Rajesh Dikshit, Director of the Centre for Cancer Epidemiology, raised the need for a children-specific tobacco quitting helpline and said school staff can be roped in to create awareness.
Also, 7.8 per cent and 22 per cent of the surveyed children were exposed to passive smoking at home and enclosed public places respectively. “This not only causes health issues but may intrigue the children enough to take up smoking,” said Dr Dikshit.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
