Kids using tobacco-laced dental products: StudyFriday, March 05,
2004
A recent survey has found out
that a substantial percentage of school-going children use
dental-care products containing tobacco.
The first
phase of the Global Youth Tobacco Survey 2004, sponsored by
the WHO and Centre for Disease Control, USA , has come up with
disturbing facts like these for India .
Fourteen
states, including Maharashtra , have been covered in the
survey so far.
Says Prakash Gupta of the Epidemiology
Research Unit, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research: "We did
a survey of 13- to 15-yearold school-going children and found
that a disturbing percentage of these children are using
dental-care products which contain tobacco."
"These
(products) include Lal Dantamanjan as well as what is
colloquially known as the 'tobacco toothpaste' which comes in
various brands like IPCO, Ganesh, Dentobac or Tona.Other
dental-care products like gudaku (a paste of tobacco and
molasses), misri (containing powdered, roasted tobacco) and
gul are also used by children today."
According to the
study, the percentage of children using tobacco-laced
dental-care products ranges from 6 per cent in Goa to 60 per
cent in Bihar. The effect of these products is as
habit-forming as any other tobacco product.
"There is
already a law, effective from 1992, which says tobacco cannot
be added to any dental -care product," Mr Gupta says.
"All that the concerned ministry has to do now is to
enforce this law strictly. These dental-care items should be
treated as tobacco products. Their ads should be banned, their
packaging should carry statutory warnings."
The next
part of the study includes an intervention programme and
periodical surveys for monitoring the situation.
|
