World No Tobacco Day
Every year, on 31st May, the World Health Organization (WHO) and global partners celebrate World No Tobacco Day (WNTD).
- The theme for World No Tobacco Day 2021 is “Commit to Quit”.
- The WHO has honored Indian Union health minister Harsh Vardhan with Director-General Special award for his efforts to control tobacco consumption in India.
- His leadership was instrumental in the 2019 national legislation to ban E-cigarettes & heated tobacco products.
- In India, over 1.3 million deaths are attributable to tobacco use every year amounting to 3500 deaths per day, imposing a lot of avoidable socio-economic burden.
- In addition to the death and diseases it causes, tobacco also impacts the economic development of the country.
- Smokers face a 40-50% higher risk of developing severe disease deaths from Covid-19.
- As per the WHO study (Published in August 2020) titled “Economic Costs of Diseases and Deaths Attributable to Tobacco Use in India”.
- It has been estimated that the economic burden of diseases and deaths attributable to the use of tobacco in India was as high as Rs. 1.77 lakh crores, amounting to approx 1% of GDP.
