Global Adult Tobacco Survey 2016 (GATS) for north-eastern states, showed that there is a 14% drop in the overall use of tobacco among citizens 15 years and above in Nagaland, during the last 5 years. This was revealed in the results of GATS-2, which was declared in a function at Guwahati on November 24.
A press release signed by NTCP, district nodal officer, Dr. C. Tetseo, said that the prevalence of tobacco use was 57% in 2010 and it has come down to 43% in 2016 and Nagaland’s tobacco prevalence ranking dropped from the 2nd position to 7th. Dr. Tetseo said that this was a significant drop because the situation in Nagaland was different from states like Mizoram and Sikkim where the will to control tobacco was strong.
“The success is attributed to the awareness created by the health department and the role played by the media”, Dr. Tetseo said. But above all, he credited the intuitions, who played an important role by integrating anti-tobacco measures into their institutional systems and “are sustaining it on their own”.
He lamented that although the prevalence has dropped, 43% is still very high, way ahead of the national average of 29%. “There are some real concerns and we need to sustain the campaign in order to bring it down to an acceptable level”, he said. Dr. Tetseo stated that the need of the hour was political will and a proactive role by the churches which would help reducing social acceptance of tobacco in our society.