Speaking at a function held on Monday at the Tata memorial Cancer Hospital, in association with Salaam Mumbai Trust, Dr Jairaj Thanekar, executive health officer, BMC said, “The preparations are zero. In couple of weeks, we should hear from the Bloomberg organisation about allocation of funds as the plans have been sent to them. A tobacco-free cell — which will consist of BMC, police, BEST, NGOs and other participants — will be set up at the Kasturba hospital once the money comes through. Then the responsibilities will be divided.”

He emphasised that the focus should be on becoming tobacco free rather than smoking free. “There are two groups of youths that need to be targeted. One comprising school going children and others kids who work as vendors or waiters. Targeting the second group is challenging as they have the money and an easy access to tobacco products.”

The chief guest for the function, film director Anurag Basu, who has been a cancer patient, said, “I used to think smoking is a very macho thing to do. It became a status issue once I turned director. I have been through a lot because of smoking. Tabacco consumption has to go out of our system.”

He added that the way children are taught about traffic rules in schools, they should be taught about harmful effects of tobacco.

According to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) India, supported by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the average percentage of students who smoked their first cigarette by the age of 10 years was 54% (average for 13 states: 8 northeastern states, Bihar, Goa, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal) which ranged from 12.0% in West Bengal to 87.8% in Manipur. The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) is the first survey that has provided data on various aspects of tobacco use among students in grades 8-10 in India.

The survey for Mumbai showed that 13 per cent of students use atleast one form of tobacco and four in 10 students are exposed to smoke in public places and have parents who use tobacco products. Doctors said surveys have shown that scenes of intense smoking that are seen on television affect the behaviour of youth 14 times more than normal.

‘Youths take up smoking because of high peer pressure’
In an ongoing survey conducted in four city BPOs, a team of doctors from TMC has found that there is more than 50 per cent prevalence of smoking among male employees and a high prevalence among females. The survey involves focus group discussions, a control group and pharmacological assistance for the 800-1,000 interviewees.

The survey undertaken in August 2007 aims to see the prevalence, actual consumption, provide cessation in the sector by 2009. Awareness among the surveyed population is very poor.