Kohima, May 31 (PTI): At least 37 out of 100 school-going children in Nagaland, with 18 per cent female students, are smokers according to a report on tobacco consumption in the State. The tobacco consumption profile prepared by the National Tobacco Control Programme under Nagaland Health & Family Welfare department (based on various surveys) reveals that the overall consumption of tobacco in the State stands at 48 per cent against the national average of 57 per cent.
Out of this, 68 per cent are male tobacco users against the national average of 57 per cent and 28 per cent are female against the national average of 10.80 per cent. The report, based on findings of Global School Personnel Survey (GSPS), Directorate of Health and Family Welfare, oral disease surveillance and others, estimates male schoolchildren smoking at 55 per cent and females at 18 per cent.
Over smokeless forms of tobacco, it estimates that 50 per cent users are male schoolchildren while 33 per cent are female children with the average of such users among children standing at 41 per cent in Nagaland. A recent State-level advocacy workshop on tobacco control laws here opined that mass-awareness on the harmful effects of tobacco is the key towards successful implementation of the ban on smoking in public places rather than punitive actions against violators.
