Health and food safety officials cite statistics to show that they have ramped up the monitoring of shops selling gutkha and other addictive substances, including chewable tobacco, and the seizure of such products has increased year over year. “We have unearthed banned substances worth crores of rupees products and it turns out that it is run as a cottage industry,” says Director of Public Health K. Kolandaisami.
Yet, anecdotally, it would appear that these measures have not made a significant dent on the supply of these products. “The ban on gutkha was announced in the country in 2013 but even today it can be easily bought in any shop. Since the health department has failed to ensure the ban, both the health minister and the secretary should resign taking moral responsibility,” said S. Cyril Alexander, State convenor of Tamil Nadu People’s Forum for Tobacco Control.
Though the prevalence of tobacco use has come down from 16% in 2009-2010 to 5.2% in 2015-2016 in the State, some 24.7% of these users initiate the habit when they are 15 years or younger, according to V. Surendran, Assistant Professor with the Department of Psycho-oncology and Resource Centre for Tobacco Control, Cancer Institute.
Unchecked crime
Activists say efforts at seizing the product forms only a minuscule per cent of control measures. What is required is preventing the entry of these banned substances into the State. Psycho-oncologist E. Vidhubala, who until recently was attached to the Cancer Institute, said during every review meeting the data regarding availability of gutkha and other banned tobacco substances was provided to the State health department. “Around 11.57 lakh people use chewing tobacco and our survey has found that use of chewable tobacco is one-and-half times more in Pudukottai than anywhere in the State. Next on the list is Cuddalore. Yet, the health department has not taken any action.”
