India faces a significant burden of disease, with a significant percentage of deaths due to non-communicable diseases like heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes. NCDs are largely preventable through healthy lifestyle choices, such as eating a healthy diet, getting regular exercise, and not smoking, or at least adopting responsible smoking choices. Nirupama Soundararajan and Arindam Goswami, in a recent article, put light on balancing health and choices. Nirupama and Arindam are both Partners at Policy Consensus Centre and are authors of the report “Re-evaluating the Ban on Alternatives to Conventional Smoking Tobacco Products”.
India has implemented policies to promote a tobacco-free country, aiming to improve public health and reduce tobacco harm. However, it cannot achieve complete smoking cessation overnight. Instead, India should focus on providing responsible alternatives for those already using traditional tobacco products. A survey found that only 3.03% of the population is aware of alternatives to smoking, with only 0.66% using them.
The younger population was more aware, with 3.95% of those aged 15-24 being aware of alternatives, while only 0.54% used e-cigarettes. The usage was more urban. When e-cigarettes were banned in India, the health impact of these alternatives was still being studied. An ICMR paper recommended the ban, citing the USFDA’s stance that heated tobacco systems and e-cigarettes were more harmful than traditional smoked tobacco products. The WHO urged member countries to ban these alternatives, as they did not lead to smoking cessation and could hinder existing nicotine-replacement therapy solutions.