Nagaland takes anti-tobacco pledge

Our Correspondent
Kohima | May 31

Nagaland today took the anti-tobacco pledge, recognizing that tobacco kills millions of people across the globe.

“I take a pledge that I shall never use or consume any type of tobacco products in my life,” stated the pledge, taken by the gathering at the state level observance of World No Tobacco Day cum Sensitization of Youth Ministry leaders, organised by the Department of Health & Family Welfare, Government of Nagaland, through the State Tobacco Control Cell, National Tobacco Control Programme at Capital Convention Centre, Kohima.

The gathering also took a pledge to motivate all family members, friends and acquaintances to abstain from tobacco use/consumption and to contribute to protection of environment from use of tobacco products.

Later, a joint discussion took place for strengthening community-based tobacco control initiatives across the districts of Nagaland.

Enforcing strict rules
S. Tainiu, Secretary, Health & Family Welfare, Govt of Nagaland, said that Nagaland is now focusing on enforcing strict government rules and making sure different departments work together as one team for tobacco control programme in the state.

“The Government of Nagaland is actively pursuing several policy initiatives. We are currently establishing comprehensive modalities for Tobacco Vendor Licensing. We are working directly with municipal town councils to ensure that shops selling tobacco are legally registered, controlled, and kept away from sensitive areas. No smoking policy -ban on smoking in public places is also being strictly enforced and implemented in the state,” she said.

Stating that a special State Empowered Committee has been formed to implement Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which India is a signatory, she said “This is a massive step for our governance. The main job of this committee is to protect our public health decisions, government policies, and schools from any interference, hidden funding, or lobbying by tobacco companies.”

On enforcing laws under Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA 2003), and Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act (PECA 2019), Tainiu said that the enforcement teams have increased their surprise checks around schools and colleges.

“It is completely illegal to sell tobacco within 100 yards of any educational institution. In the past financial year alone, our teams caught, checked, and fined people for over 400 violations of this law,” she said.

We are working to create more 'Tobacco-Free Villages' and 'Smoke-Free District Headquarters' to build a culture of following the law from the ground up,” she added.

43.3% of adults in Nagaland use tobacco
Dr. Mereninla Senlem, Principal Director, Department of Health & Family Welfare said that the reports from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey-2 show that 43.3% of adults in Nagaland use tobacco in one form or another.

She said that the problem is so big that it needs immediate and serious attention.

This is much higher than the national average of 28.6%, and it puts Nagaland at number Eight in the country for adult tobacco use, she said.

The data from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey-4 shows that 43% of the school-going children between the ages of 13 and 15 are tobacco users.

It means 62% of young boys and 24% of young girls are using tobacco.

This makes Nagaland the state with the second-highest youth tobacco use in the entire country of India, Dr. Senlem said.