The Hindu : Doctors demand a gutka-free Delhi

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Aug 10, 2002

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Doctors demand a gutka-free Delhi

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI AUG. 9. The city doctors have begun at the beginning. Close on heels of the State-initiated bans in various parts of the country, Delhi doctors have initiated their demand for a gutka- free State. And as a part of their anti-gutka campaign, the group has declared Delhi Medical Association (DMA) house a gutka-free zone.

Elaborating on the strategy the DMA president, S.C.L Gupta, said, "Our objective has been very clear from the beginning -- to first focus on getting gutka banned in Delhi and simultaneously building public opinion and put pressure towards ousting other tobacco based products in a phased manner.''

The DMA has also requested other private and public organisations to support their movement by introducing similar norms.

Meanwhile, gutka samples collected randomly have been found to contain 0.67 to 2.36 per cent of nicotine and magnesium carbonate. Throwing light on the medico-legal aspects of the issue, Dr. Gupta said, "Section 23 of the PFA Act, 1954 already empowers the Central Government to prohibit the sale of any substance which may be injurious to health when used as food or as an ingredient of food (vide section 23 (1-A)(f) of the PFA Act, 1954. Further, there have been ample studies over the recent past that have confirmed the ill-effects of gutka and other forms of tobacco.''

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimate, 70 per cent of the 10 million projected to die of tobacco consumption by 2030 would be from the developing countries.

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