India likely to achieve 30 percent reduction in tobacco use by 2025: WHO

India is among 60 countries on track to achieve the global target of a 30 per cent reduction in tobacco use by 2025 according to the fourth World Health Organizations global tobacco trends reportAs per the report the number of tobacco users have decreased globally to 130 billion in 2020 from 132 billion in 2015 This is expected to continue to drop to 127 billion by 2025The report further said that the fastest rate of decline in the use of tobacco was seen in the WHO SouthEast Asia Region with average prevalence of smoking among men declining from 50 per cent in 2000 to 25 per cent in 2020 and tobacco smoking among women declining steeply from 89 per cent in 2000 to 16 per cent in 2020Sustained political commitment and relentless efforts by countries to strengthen surveillance expand tobacco control measures including cessation services to help users quit tobacco are some of the key reasons for success said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh Regional Director WHO SouthEast Asia Region in a statementThe region currently has the highest rates of tobacco use with around 432 million users or 29 per cent of its population It is also home to 266 million smokeless tobacco users out of 355 million globallyTobacco use is one of the key risk factors for noncommunicable diseases NCD and effective tobacco control is important for prevention and control of NCDsMillions of lives have been saved by effective and comprehensive tobacco control policies under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control WHO FCTC and MPOWERIf tobacco control efforts continue at the current level smoking rates in the South East Asia Region can reach as low as 11 per cent in 2025 This would be the second lowest regional average rate after Africa 75 per cent in 2025 Singh saidFurther the WHO global report showed that 150 countries have shown rates of tobacco use decline and from only 32 countries on track two years ago currently 60 countries are on track This is despite the advent of Covid19 in the past 2 yearsIt is very encouraging to see fewer people using tobacco each year and more countries on track to meet global targets said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus WHO DirectorGeneral in a statementWe still have a long way to go and tobacco companies will continue to use every trick in the book to defend the gigantic profits they make from peddling their deadly wares We encourage all countries to make better use of the many effective tools available for helping people to quit and saving lives he addedAccording to the report recent evidence also shows that the tobacco industry used the Covid pandemic to build influence with governments in 80 countries including in IndiaBut India stepped up efforts to protect health policy according to a report by tobacco industry watchdog STOPThe Ministry of Health and Family Welfare adopted a code of conduct aimed at preventing industry interference and conflicts of interest among public officials and all departments within the Ministrys jurisdiction it saidThe WHO report also showed that in 2020 223 per cent of the global population used tobacco 367 per cent of all men and 78 per cent of the worlds womenApproximately 38 million children aged 1315 currently use tobacco 13 million girls and 25 million boys In most countries it is illegal for minors to purchase tobacco products The goal is to achieve zero child tobacco usersThe number of women using tobacco in 2020 was 231 million The age group with the highest prevalence rate among women for tobacco use is 5564This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoeverAlso Read As Tripura cracks down on journalists in what shape is media freedom in India