What
leads a 13-year-old boy to smoke a bidi in secret? Or a young girl to start
chewing pan masala laced with zarda? In Nagaland—and across India—these are no
longer rare occurrences.
As
we observe World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) 2025 with the theme: “Protecting
Children from Tobacco Industry Interference”, we are reminded that our children
are being deliberately targeted by an industry that profits from addiction.
Nagaland
is home to over 6 lakh tobacco users (GATS-2 & GYTS-4), with smokeless
tobacco use more common than smoking. Products like khaini, gutka, and pan
masala with zarda are sold in colourful, low-cost packets that closely resemble
sweets—an intentional marketing ploy to attract young users. Meanwhile,
cigarette companies use surrogate advertisements, point-of-sale displays, and
digital platforms to subtly push their products to the youth.
Although
the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003, provides a robust
legal framework, enforcement remains a challenge.
Tobacco is still sold near
schools. With the average age of initiation in Nagaland at 17.2 years, children
as young as 12 can easily buy pan masala, zarda, khaini, bidi or cigarettes.
Many youth are unaware that their tobacco use is both illegal and harmful.
The
damage goes far beyond health. The total economic cost attributable to tobacco
use from all diseases in India for 35-69 years was estimated at INR 1.045 lakh
crore (USD 22.4 billion) in 2011. At the household level, families bear the
brunt—spending on medical care, losing income when the breadwinner falls ill,
and facing long-term financial insecurity.
The
Health Department, through the National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP), has
initiated awareness campaigns, school-based interventions, and cessation
support. But these efforts must be scaled up urgently.
The
path forward is clear:
•Strengthen enforcement of COTPA, with
routine inspections, penalties, and public accountability.
•Implement targeted school and college
awareness programmes to educate children and adolescents early and
consistently.
•Expand cessation support at
educational institutions, and through accessible digital platforms.
•Reduce access and availability, by
raising taxes, banning single-stick sales, and limiting points of sale near
youth settings.
This
year’s theme is a powerful reminder that protecting children from tobacco
industry interference is a public duty. Tobacco use is not just a matter of
personal choice—it is a public health threat, an economic burden, and a
developmental obstacle.
Policies
must resonate with the realities on the ground—of children being drawn into
addiction before they fully understand its consequences.
Communities, parents,
teachers, and local leaders must be at the forefront of this fight.
Let
it be a collective commitment—to act, to support, to enforce, and most
importantly, to protect the next generation from tobacco.
Tobacco
control is not the job of one department or one day. It requires all of us.
Do
what you can. Support wherever you can.
The
time to act is now.
Dr. Arenla
Walling,
Additional
Director (Dental) & State Nodal Officer,
