Randeep Guleria said tobacco use is rising at an alarming rate among young people and women. If left unchecked, he said, it will continue to worsen, especially through the e-cigarette market, which has been marketed as a better and “cooler” option.
The Director of AIIMS has warned that e-cigarettes, which have gained popularity in India over the past few years, are as harmful as regular cigarettes, even though awareness about their ill-effects remains low.
“India is the second largest consumer of tobacco in the world. Its use in India is rampant; we need to take preventative measures,” said Randeep Guleria, director of the institute. Millions of Indians die of tobacco-related illnesses each year, including lung cancer, cardiovascular diseases and tuberculosis.
Guleria said tobacco use is rising at an alarming rate among young people and women. If left unchecked, he said, it will continue to worsen, especially through the e-cigarette market, which has been marketed as a better and “cooler” option.
He also said e-cigarettes – handheld electronic devices that simulate the experience of smoking and work by heating a liquid which generates an aerosol — are not the safer option they are presented to be. He said it would cost much less to create a preventive campaign that advocates awareness than it would be to continue paying for treatments needed because of tobacco use. “We have to address the root cause – intake of tobacco – rather than treating them at the end,” he said.