World No Tobacco Day: An urgent national call
Heramba Nath
Every year on May 31, the global health community observes World No Tobacco Day — a day that goes beyond mere symbolic value, emerging as an important occasion for governments, public health officials, civil society, and ordinary citizens to reflect on one of the most persistent and preventable health crises of our times. In India, where both smoking and smokeless tobacco consumption have deep historical, cultural, and socio-economic roots, this day holds particular relevance, serving as a reminder of the enormous human cost exacted by tobacco use, and the moral responsibility of both the state and its citizens to combat this silent epidemic.
The significance of this day lies not only in warning individuals about personal health hazards, but also in unmasking the larger commercial, political, and cultural structures that sustain the tobacco industry’s profits at the cost of public health. The World Health Organization first initiated World No Tobacco Day in 1987, as a global movement to educate people about the devastating effects of tobacco. Over the years, it has evolved into an important international health event, with yearly themes that spotlight different aspects of the issue. In 2025, the theme — Unmasking the Appeal: Exposing Industry Tactics on Tobacco and Nicotine Products — is especially pertinent to India’s socio-economic realities and the aggressive marketing strategies being adopted by tobacco companies to hook newer generations into addiction.
India presents a particularly complex landscape in the global fight against tobacco. It is simultaneously one of the largest producers and consumers of tobacco products. The tobacco menace in India is not confined to cigarettes and cigars but extends to a wide range of indigenous, culturally accepted products such as gutkha, khaini, zarda, and paan with tobacco. These smokeless tobacco variants, often sold cheaply and easily accessible even to minors, contribute to a public health crisis of alarming proportions. The Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) has shown that nearly one-third of Indian adults use some form of tobacco, a figure that translates into millions of avoidable illnesses and untimely deaths.
What makes India’s tobacco problem particularly insidious is its wide social acceptance, especially in rural and economically weaker sections. In many parts of the country, chewing tobacco is perceived not as a vice but as a normal, even medicinal, habit passed down through generations. It is often intertwined with customs, rituals, and occupations. This normalisation of tobacco consumption has made it far more difficult to combat through conventional awareness campaigns alone. Unlike in many Western countries where tobacco is largely a lifestyle choice, in India it is in many cases a socio-economic compulsion, closely tied to occupation, stress-relief, and cultural practices. As a result, policy interventions must go beyond simply penalising consumption to addressing the socio-cultural contexts in which tobacco use thrives.
On the policy front, India has indeed made notable strides. The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) of 2003 laid down several restrictions on advertising, promotion, and sale of tobacco products. India’s pioneering move to mandate large pictorial health warnings covering 85% of tobacco packaging has received global praise. Similarly, the nationwide ban on e-cigarettes announced in 2019 demonstrated political will to stay ahead of new-age nicotine delivery devices targeting youth under the guise of safer alternatives. The National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP), launched in 2007-08, was a critical milestone that sought to strengthen tobacco control infrastructure at the district and sub-district levels. It aimed to generate public awareness, provide cessation services, and establish monitoring systems to enforce anti-tobacco laws. Despite these achievements, challenges persist, largely owing to weak enforcement, inadequate funding, and socio-economic complexities.
A deeply troubling aspect is the relentless targeting of India’s youth by the tobacco industry. Even with restrictions on direct advertising, surrogate advertisements, promotions through entertainment media, product placement in digital content, and sponsorships remain widespread. Despite legal frameworks prohibiting sales of tobacco to minors, implementation is lax, and products remain easily accessible around schools and colleges. The tobacco lobby continues to exploit legal loopholes and weak enforcement, endangering the health of future generations. World No Tobacco Day thus must become a rallying point to demand stricter surveillance, community vigilance, and firm penalties against violators.
Another significant issue requiring serious attention is the economic dependence of certain farming communities on tobacco cultivation. States like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Gujarat rely heavily on tobacco as a cash crop. While public health concerns necessitate a gradual reduction in tobacco production, abrupt restrictions can lead to financial insecurity for farmers who lack alternative livelihood options. The government’s responsibility, therefore, extends beyond public health to social justice and economic planning. Carefully designed crop substitution programmes, capacity-building initiatives, and market linkages for alternative crops are essential to ensure that livelihoods are not compromised while public health priorities are pursued.
Equally concerning is the lack of adequate cessation infrastructure for those seeking to quit tobacco. While tobacco addiction is one of the leading causes of preventable deaths, the facilities available to help people overcome this addiction remain limited and poorly accessible, especially in rural and underserved areas. Most government hospitals lack dedicated tobacco cessation clinics, and counselling services are either non-existent or insufficient. This gap must be urgently addressed through increased investment in public health infrastructure, integration of tobacco cessation services within primary healthcare, and the inclusion of anti-tobacco counselling as part of routine health checks.
From a cultural perspective, the battle against tobacco requires a fundamental shift in social attitudes. The use of tobacco, particularly in smokeless forms, continues to be normalised in households, workplaces, and community gatherings. Public campaigns must, therefore, be tailored not merely as health advisories but as culturally sensitive narratives that challenge existing perceptions and reshape social norms. Religious leaders, community elders, and local influencers should be actively involved in tobacco control campaigns, lending moral authority to anti-tobacco messages.
World No Tobacco Day is also an opportunity to confront the growing digital menace of tobacco promotion through social media. The rise of influencer marketing, unregulated content, and viral challenges involving tobacco use among the youth has added a new layer of complexity to tobacco control efforts. It is essential for regulatory authorities to collaborate with technology platforms, formulate stricter content moderation policies, and hold digital marketers accountable for covert tobacco promotions.
The role of educational institutions remains pivotal in this fight. Schools, colleges, and universities should not limit their anti-tobacco initiatives to token observances on World No Tobacco Day but incorporate comprehensive tobacco education modules within their curricula. Students must be made aware of the health risks, social consequences, and ethical dimensions of tobacco consumption from an early age. Peer education, campus campaigns, and creative activities can serve as powerful tools in dissuading young people from experimenting with tobacco.
India’s struggle against tobacco must also be viewed through the prism of equity and human rights. Tobacco addiction disproportionately affects the poor and marginalised, who often lack access to information, healthcare, and cessation support. Tobacco-related illnesses drive families deeper into poverty through treatment costs and loss of productivity. Recognising this, tobacco control should not be perceived merely as a public health intervention but as an instrument of social justice. It aligns with the broader goals of achieving universal health coverage, reducing health inequities, and ensuring the right to a healthy life for all citizens.
In Assam and the Northeast region, tobacco consumption patterns have shown some alarming trends in recent years. The proliferation of smokeless tobacco products like gutkha, zarda, and khaini continues unabated, despite legal restrictions. In rural areas, tobacco addiction has silently destroyed countless families, contributing to preventable diseases, increased poverty, and social instability. It is essential for the state government to intensify its enforcement of anti-tobacco laws, expand cessation facilities, and launch community-level awareness drives in local languages, involving self-help groups, youth organisations, and Panchayati Raj institutions.
World No Tobacco Day must not be reduced to an annual ritual of poster campaigns and slogans. It must be embraced as a moral and civic duty by every citizen, policymaker, health worker, and social organisation. The health, dignity, and future of our nation depend on how decisively we confront this slow, silent killer. The government must commit greater financial and administrative resources to tobacco control programmes. Civil society must sustain grassroots campaigns. Media houses must expose industry malpractices. And individuals must pledge to protect themselves and their communities from the scourge of tobacco.
Only through a united, multi-pronged, and socially inclusive approach can India hope to reverse the devastating health, economic, and social consequences of tobacco use. On this World No Tobacco Day, let it be our collective resolve to build a future where every citizen can breathe freely, live healthily, and break free from the shackles of addiction. It is a call for conscience, for courage, and for national reform.
