World No Tobacco Day:

Syllabus: Environment and Conservation related issues.

Context:

31st May is observed as ‘World No Tobacco Day’ every year to spread awareness around the deadly effects of tobacco consumption.

The Member States of the World Health Organization created World No Tobacco Day in 1987 to draw global attention to the tobacco epidemic and the preventable death and disease it causes.
In 1988, Resolution WHA 42.19 was passed, calling for the celebration of World No Tobacco Day, every year on 31 May.
Theme for 2022: “Tobacco: Threat to our environment.” This drive aims to create awareness among the public on the detrimental impact of tobacco cultivation, production, distribution, and waste on the environment, besides human health.
The WHO has selected Jharkhand for the World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) Award-2022.

Impact of tobacco on environment:

About 3.5 million hectares of land are cleared for growing tobacco each year.
It causes deforestation mainly in the developing nations.
Tobacco cultivation results in soil degradation, making it infertile to support the growth of other crops or vegetation.
Tobacco contributes 84 megatons of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide to the atmosphere every year.
Around twenty-two billion litres of water is consumed in the production of cigarettes every year.
Tobacco is a very nutrient-hungry crop, and it depletes soil nutrients more rapidly.

Tobacco cultivation in India:

It is one of the important cash crops.

Today, India is the second-largest crop producer in the world after China.
Around 760 million kg of Tobacco is grown in India on about 40 lakh hectares of land.
The sector provides jobs to millions of people and contributes as much as Rs.22,737 crore as excise duty and Rs.5,969 crore in foreign exchange to the national treasury.

Impact on health:

It is estimated that about 29% of the adult Indian population consumes Tobacco. Most commonly, it is consumed as Smokeless Tobacco Products like khaini, gutkha, and zarda.
The smokeless forms pose high risks of oral and oesophageal cancer.
Their consumption by pregnant women can also lead to stillbirth and low birth weight in infants.
People addicted to smoking are at very high risk of uterine cervix, and bone marrow cancers.
Tobacco kills more people than tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and malaria combined worldwide.
Tobacco farmers are prone to suffer from a work-related ailment known as “Green Tobacco Sickness” (GTS), which is caused mainly by nicotine absorption via the skin.

Efforts by Government in this regard:

The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act 2003 (COTPA 2003): This Act includes the prohibition of smoking in public places, advertisement of cigarettes and other tobacco products, sale of cigarettes or other tobacco products to anyone below the age of 18 years, and prohibition of selling areas like schools, colleges, etc.
To make India addiction-free, the Government has launched programmes like National Tobacco Control Programme and Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan.
Crop diversification programme: Farmers are encouraged to replace tobacco crops with less water-consuming alternatives to conserve water and soil.

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

Mains Link:

Discuss the significance of world no Tobacco Day.

Q.4) Consider the following statements:

1. The WHO has selected Jharkhand for the World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) Award-2022.
2. India is the second-largest crop producer in the world after China.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

Sources: Down to Earth.