Srinagar, May 31 (KNB): In a significant development the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) in its survey has reveled that the use of Tobacco products including cigarettes has declined significantly among adults in Jammu & Kashmir.
The Minister of Health & Medical Education, Dr. Devinder Kumar Manyal released the State Facts Sheets of the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS-) today on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day, at an impressive function organised by Health & Medical Education and J&K Voluntary Health Association.
The Minister said that it is heartening to note that as per Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS 2) the overall tobacco use prevalence has declined significantly among adults in Jammu & Kashmir, from 26.6% in 2009-10 to 23.7% in 2016-17, and smoking has decreased among adults from 21.9% to 20.8%. The use of smokeless tobacco has decreased from 7.6% to 4.3%. Cigarette, hukkah and bidi are the the most commonly used tobacco products, 10.4%, 6.3% and 6.2% of adults smoke cigarette, hukkah and bidi respectively.
Earlier Minister was requested that Government should raise taxes on tobacco products from existing 40% and raise it to 60%.
Pertinent to mention here, the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) is a global standard for systematically monitoring adult tobacco use (smoking and smokeless) and tracking key tobacco control indicators. (KNB)
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