Among the adults 24.9% (232.4 million) are daily tobacco users and 3.7% (34.4 million) are occasional users. The GATS 2 report showed that every tenth adult in India smokes tobacco—11.9% in rural areas and 8.3% in urban areas. In urban areas 25% of non-smokers and in rural areas 40.4% of non-smokers were exposed to SHS at home, respectively. “The tobacco epidemic is a major public health challenge in India, and flavored smokeless tobacco usage in India is very high. Of these, 47,549 interviews were conducted in rural areas and 26,488 in urban areas.

Source: Mint June 06, 2018 16:41 UTC