The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), a component of the Global Tobacco Surveillance System, pegged the number of school students aged between 13 and 15 in Andhra Pradesh who are consuming tobacco products at 2.6% (3.6% of boys and 1.5% of girls), smoking tobacco at 1.8% (2.7% of boys and 0.8% of girls), smoking cigarettes at 1.1% (1.6% of boys and 0.5% of girls), smoking beedi at 0.8% (1.3% of boys and 0.2% of girls) and those using smokeless tobacco at 1.1% (1.4% of boys and 0.8% of girls).
Releasing the GYTS-AP Fact Sheet-2019 on Wednesday, Commissioner of Health Katamneni Bhaskar said the GYTS was a global standard for systemically monitoring youth tobacco use (smoking and smokeless) and tracking key tobacco control indicators. The aim was to document and monitor the extent of smoking and smokeless tobacco use and to understand and assess the students’ attitudes, knowledge and behavior towards tobacco use and its health impact.
The overall response rate in Andhra Pradesh was 99.7%. A total of 3,290 students from 33 schools (18 public and 15 private) participated in the survey. Of them, 2,959 students were considered for reporting.
Some of the other findings are: 37% of the students (42% of boys and 20% of girls) tried to quit smoking and 30% of the current smokers wanted to give up the habit.
A total of 7.2% of the students were exposed to tobacco smoke at home and 22.5% were exposed to tobacco smoke inside closed public places. Forty-nine per cent of the school heads (43% in rural and 58% in urban schools) were aware of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 and 36% know the policy to display ‘tobacco - free school’ boards.
