Srinagar, June 10: Amid the huge tobacco burden in rural areas, the Health Department Kashmir will declare at least 20 villages tobacco-free in the valley by the end of this year under the recently launched “Tobacco Free Village Campaign.”
The Health Department launched the campaign on May 31 which will focus on taking steps to prevent initiation of tobacco use among youngsters and assisting users to quit.
Dr Mir Mushtaq, State Nodal Officer (Kashmir Division), National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP), said the department under the campaign will identify villages and select two villages from every district of Kashmir, meaning 20 villages in 10 districts.
“The local panchayats will give a voluntary declaration to declare the village tobacco-free. In that particular village, the tobacco products and smoking would be restricted,” he said.
Mir said that these villages will become model villages and later on every village will be tobacco-free and in the longer run it will help fight tobacco burden in Jammu and Kashmir.
The respective Deputy Commissioners, Chief Medical Officers and other stakeholders will jointly nominate the villages and then requisite criteria will be followed. “On the next World Tobacco Day, we will be having 20 villages tobacco-free,” he said.
Mir said that outreach programs on National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP) will be held in rural areas to help the areas to implement and achieve goals of tobacco control policies in the country.
As per the criteria for tobacco-free villages, the intervention will act as a major element for the end game of tobacco. The tobacco endgame refers to a policy approach that focuses on ending the tobacco epidemic, aiming at a ‘tobacco-free future.’
“Village-level committees will monitor tobacco industry interference. Key criteria for selecting villages/for Tobacco Free Village Initiative like small geography with less number of population, less number of point of sale, village which has taken many such initiatives before to uphold public health as key priority,” it said..
Active social institutions like Youth Club, Rotary Club, Self Help Group, Red Cross Society, NSS, NCC, NYKS etc. would support such a kind of initiative.
Based on the analysis of tobacco products usage rate through Community Based Assessment Check (CBAC), list data would be readily available with the District NCD team.
The criteria for tobacco-free village declaration said that no use of tobacco products or no smoking inside the village by the village people and other members/visitors.
“Signages (tobacco free place) at places like main gate and on boundary walls of villages that say sale and usage of tobacco products are prohibited would be installed,” it said.
A copy of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 (COTPA) shall be available with the head of the village/council/panchayat and should be available anytime.
“The village council/panchayat should pass the resolution on tobacco-free village declaration in Panchayat meeting (self–declaration),”the criteria said.
The low-cost community-driven program holds promises for helping public health practitioners and govt. to implement and achieve the goals of tobacco control policies and advocate for end game of tobacco control.
As per the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS-2) 2016-17, conducted by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the tobacco burden in rural areas is significantly higher as compared to urban areas in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Adults exposed to tobacco smoke at home in rural areas is 78.5 percent. Adults exposed to tobacco smoke at workplaces in rural areas is 60.7 percent and adults exposed to tobacco smoke at public places in rural areas is 34.8 percent,” the GATS-2 figures said.
