World Health Organization to award Jharkhand for tobacco control

The World Health Organization (WHO) has chosen Jharkhand for the World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) Award-2022, in recognition of the state’s efforts to reduce tobacco usage. The award will be presented to the State Tobacco Control Cell of the Health Department in New Delhi in honour of World No Tobacco Day. The coveted award, which honoured the State Government’s achievements in reducing tobacco usage, was given by the National Tobacco Control Program in Jharkhand.

Key Points:

• According to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS)-1 report, the NTCP was begun in Jharkhand in 2012, when the state’s tobacco prevalence rate was 51.1 percent, with 48 percent of smokers.
• According to the GATS-2 study, tobacco users in the state decreased to 38.9%, with 35.4 percent of those using smokeless tobacco.

Why was Jharkhand granted the WHO Award for Tobacco Control by the World Health Organization?

• The effective programmes and reach-out helplines for individuals who wished to stop tobacco are the reason for the decline of tobacco in Jharkhand.
• Simultaneously, tobacco usage in Jharkhand has decreased due to increased knowledge and limitations on tobacco use, such as the prohibition of smoking in public places and making it a criminal violation.

Award for World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) in 2022:

• A maximum of six World No Tobacco Day Awards will be given to each World Health Organization zone. Two of the honorees may additionally receive particular acknowledgment from the WHO Director-General through the Director-General Special Recognition Award.
• A organization, an individual, a government agency, or a ministry may be nominated for the prize if they have made a substantial contribution to tobacco control.

Impact of Tobacco on Land:

• Every year, 3. 5 million hectares of land are destroyed throughout the world to plant tobacco. Tobacco farming also causes in 20,000 hectares of deforestation and soil deterioration each year.
• Each year, over 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are not properly disposed of throughout the world, resulting in the production of 1.69 billion pounds of harmful waste and the release of thousands of chemicals into the air, water, and land.
• According to the WHO, 600,000,000 trees have been felled and 22,000,000,000 tons of water have been utilized in the production of cigarettes.

Tobacco Composition:

• Carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, benzene, formaldehyde, nicotine, phenol, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and tobacco-specific nitrosamines are among the many compounds found in tobacco smoke (TSNAs).

Tobacco Day History:

• In 1987, the World Health Organization’s Member States established World No Tobacco Day to raise worldwide awareness of the tobacco pandemic and the needless death and disease it causes.
• The World Health Assembly enacted Resolution WHA40.38 in 1987, designating April 7, 1988 as “a world no-smoking day.”

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