New Delhi: More than one million Indians die prematurely from tobacco-related diseases each year, a report released on Tuesday said. Estimates from patients at our oral cancer ward indicate that 80 to 90 percent of preventable cancers of the neck, head and throat are tobacco related.
The burden of oral cancers caused by chewing tobacco, as well as lung and other cancers caused by smoking tobacco in ‘bidis’ and cigarettes, is enormous,said Pankaj Chaturvedi, cancer specialist at Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Hospital.
Nandita Murukutla, country director, World Lung Foundation, said public health experts have been sounding the alarm on the astonishing increase in cancers caused by lifestyle factors, particularly tobacco use.
Governments must urgently implement strong preventive policies like increased taxation and restrictions to access of unhealthy products; enforcement of bans on advertising and promotion of unhealthy products, she added.
Bureau Report
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