Hamirpur (HP): According to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey-4 (GYTS-2021) Himachal Pradesh is one of those states where the prevalence of tobacco consumption among the youth is very low.
This has been possible due to various steps taken by the State Government from time to time to reduce the prevalence of tobacco consumption among the youth, said a spokesman of the Health Department today.
The spokesman said that as per the monitoring of e-health cards, the prevalence of tobacco consumption among the youth presently stands at 12.2 per cent, this variable was 22 per cent in 2010 and 16 per cent in 2016 according to GYTS. He said that Himachal Pradesh was also recognised by the World Health Organization for tobacco control in the year 2012.
He said that at present the main focus of the State Government is to make educational institutions and Panchayats tobacco-free, for this many steps, have been taken by the State Government.
The spokesman said that 100 new Disha centres have been established in the state. Guidelines regarding making educational institutions tobacco-free-2020, Health Promotion Educational Institution Guidelines-2020, Health Promotion Committee-2021 etc. have been issued. He said that resolutions are passed by village panchayats in support of tobacco-free policies.
Apart from this, the state has announced a tobacco-free panchayat reward scheme of Rs five lakhs for tobacco-free panchayats.
He said that a target has been set to make educational institutions, Gram panchayats (at least one gram panchayat in every block) tobacco-free during the current financial year.
