Citizens manage to purchase gutka despite it being banned three years back for containing carcinogens such as tobacco and nicotine, found a new survey conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO).<\/p>\n
Most of these illegal gutka pouches, said Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials, come into the city from Gujarat. “These pouches are manufactured for export, but find their way into Mumbai. Most FIRs filed by my department after raids show that the seized gutka originated from Gujarat,” said FDA commissioner Dr Harshdeep Kamble at a function to release the WHO report at Tata Memorial Hospital on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The FDA has conducted 4,000 seizures worth around Rs 60 crore in the last three-and-a-half years. “Over 30% of the seizures originate from Gujarat,” he said. The WHO survey was conducted in December 2014 by the Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Centre for Communication and Change-India, to study the impact of gutka ban across the Indian states. “After interviewing people in Mumbai and Thane, we found said that 36% of those surveyed still managed to purchase pre-packaged gutkha,” said the WHO study’s author Dr Pradeep Krishnatrya. The corresponding figure for Delhi was 11% while the national average was 16%. The ban has brought about a shift in usage: 64% respondents reported purchasing ingredients separately and combining\/mixing something similar to gutka.<\/p>\n
But the WHO survey’s overwhelming national finding was that the ban works. “There is no denying that the gutka ban has led to a decrease in consumption. More than half of gutka users have tried to stop since the ban came into place,” said Dr Krishnatrya.<\/p>\n
Apart from “sale” of banned pouches, the other alarming finding was that 40% of the users started before turning 20 years old. “This is a worrisome finding. There is still a lot of glamourization attached to tobacco as celebrities appear in gutka advertisements,” said Tata Memorial Hospital cancer surgeon Dr Pankaj Chauturvedi. On the bright side, the WHO survey found overwhelming support for the ban on gutka. “We noticed an almost universal agreement (99%) that gutka ban is good for the health of India’s youth,” said Dr Krishnatrya.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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