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• Tobacco curbs hit Bidi exports  

The bidi export market is seeing a downward trend and confusion prevails among bidi exporters about the actual figures. But exporters present a unanimous front on the reasons for the fall. The restrictions on tobacco the world over are seen as the chief reason for the exporters' woes.

Low-cost cigarettes seem to be the other villains. Bidi exporters are slowly losing hold over the Middle East, which has been the mainstay for many companies, like Nimex Trading Corporation. “The Middle East accounts for about 90% of our exports,” says Nimex proprietor Parvez A Khatri. The Asian population in these countries constitutes the major clientele for bidis. However, cigarette manufacturers in Bangladesh who are supplying their wares at cheap rates, are beginning to eat into their markets.

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Bidi habit poses hidden health risk 

The first worldwide study to compile existing information about bidi consumption and manufacture - and the health effects of smoking and producing bidis - was published last week.

The report, titled Bidi Smoking and Public Health, reveals that India, home to the world's largest market of bidi consumers and producers, has more than 100 million bidi smokers. Of these, 2.3 per cent are children. The study was carried out over a five-year period and developed by the Healis - Sekhsaria Institute for Public Health based in Mumbai and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It reported that 700,000 of the 800,000 tobacco-related deaths in India each year were caused by bidi smoking.

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BIDI SMOKING: Bidis kill 6,00,000 people in India every year. 

idi smoking is one of the largest killers in India than all other forms of tobacco combined. While there are various campaigns and awareness drives against cigarette smoking, no one seems to be mentioning bidis, which apparently is the biggest killer.

Bidis kill 6,00,000 people in India every year. Nearly 85 per cent of the world's bidi tobacco is grown in India. According to a study done by the Health Ministry that finds 70 per cent of tobacco smoked in the country is in the form of bidis.

The states with maximum bidi smoking are Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim.

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• 100 mln Indians smoke unfiltered cigarettes: study 

More than 100 million people in India smoke unfiltered hand-rolled cigarettes, reducing their life span by about two decades, a study released Thursday said.

More Indians die from smoking "bidis" than from all other forms of tobacco combined, said the study by the Healis-Sekhsaria Institute of Public Health, dedicated to improving public health in India and other developing countries.

"Indians smoke eight times as many bidis as cigarettes" thanks to their affordability, said the study, released by the Mumbai-based group ahead of World-Tobacco Day on Saturday.

"Bidis are as harmful as cigarettes if not more... bidi smoke delivers many toxic chemicals at higher levels than those from western-style cigarettes," it said adding that some 800 billion bidis were sold in India annually.

Packed with "proven carcinogens, poison, toxic chemicals and nicotine" bidi smoke raises "the risk of oral cancer, cancer of the lung, stomach and esophagus, heart disease, chronic lung disease, asthma and tuberculosis," the study said.

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100 million smoke beedi in India, says report 

An estimated 100 million people - mostly the poor and illiterate - smoke beedi in India and 200,000 tuberculosis deaths are due to these hand-rolled cigarettes, a health ministry report released on Monday said.

The report, for the year 2004-05 and termed as the first analytical, scientific and systematic study on the trend, said beedi smoking was more harmful than cigarette smoking.

"In India, beedi smoking contributes substantially to death from tuberculosis," said Health Secretary Naresh Dayal.

Dayal released the beedi monograph that lists the prevalence of beedi smoking in the country, its consequences - both economic and healthwise - and public health policy strategies.

He said there are more beedi smokers than users of any other kind of tobacco products. "Beedi is the most widely used form of tobacco. There are 240 million tobacco users of which 100 million smoke beedi," he said.

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First study reveals bidi's role as India's silent killer 

Over 100 million people in India smoke bidi and more people die due to smoking bidis than all other forms of tobacco combined, says a bidi monograph, the first study of the kind conducted anywhere in the world. It further says that 800 million bidis are sold in the country each year.

While 19 per cent of tobacco consumption in India is in the form of cigarettes, 53 per cent is smoked as bidis. Roughly about eight bidis are sold for every cigarette, underlines Bidi Smoking and Public Health, released by Union Ministry of Health and Family welfare on Monday.

"Tobacco is harmful in all its forms. Anti-tobacco advocacy is a major task of this ministry," said Naresh Dayal, Secretary, Health Ministry, while releasing the monograph. Dayal added that Food and Agricultural Organisation estimated that 29 lakh persons grow tobacco for bidis in the country.

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• Bidis more lethal than cigarettes: Health ministry 

the Union ministry of health and family welfare (MOHFW) manages to hit the bull’s eye. Carrying on with its “No tobacco, No Alcohol” agenda with the avowed objective to free society from the shackles of these age-old addictions, the ministry has now gone one step further by coming out with a monograph that seeks to bring all the ill effects of bidi smoking into sharp focus. An estimated 100 million people ~ mostly the poor and the illiterate ~ smoke bidi in India and 200,000 tuberculosis deaths are due to these hand-rolled cigarettes, a health ministry report says. The monograph has data, culled from various sources for 2000-2004, to prove that bidi smoking is more harmful than cigarette smoking, the health secretary Mr Naresh Dayal notes.

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• Awareness, protests cut tobacco cultivation in southwestern districts 

Tobacco cultivation in seven southwestern districts which got a big boost several years ago is declining due to awareness about its harmful effect on soil and health following protests and campaign and also because of farmers' need to grow more food.

Farmers now say its cultivation decreases fertility and deposits harmful ingredients in soil.

According to sources in the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) and officials of now defunct Tobacco Development Board (TDB), tobacco cultivation declined to 14000 hectares in the areas in the current season from last year's 17000 hectares. .. .

The seven districts known for tobacco cultivation are Kushtia, Meherpur, Jhenidah, Chuadanga, Magura, Jessore and Rajbari.

Tobacco cultivation increased in the country mainly at the behwest of cigarette and Bidi companies. Its main buyers were 17 companies including multinational British American Tobacco (BAT. . . .

According to sources, Bidi and cigarette companies have been using various 'unhealthy' techniques to lure farmers into tobacco farming for long. They provide interest-free loans, seeds, fertilisers, technical support and buy back facilities to farmers.

These companies have a large number of field workers to do the job. They lure farmers into tobacco cultivation, and get 'tips' from companies for 'good performance'.

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Drive to wean schoolkids away from tobacco 

School-going children in West Bengal are more prone to get addicted to tobacco products. Thanks to the lack of awareness among people in these parts about the dangers of tobacco use.

This was revealed by a voluntary organisation, West Bengal Voluntary Health Association (WBVHA) this afternoon who have been engaged by the Union health ministry to spread awareness about the ill-effects of tobacco.

Mr Tarun Kumar Maity, project manager (Tobacco Control Programme) of WBVHA and a member of Advocacy Forum for Tobacco Control said: “When we visited a few schools in the districts of West Bengal, we discovered a large number of children are addicted to tobacco products and bidi was widely used. We even found school student bunking classes and smoking bidis at a hideout close to the school.”

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India in the grip of a smoking epidemic: study 

India is in the grip of a smoking epidemic likely to cause nearly a million deaths a year by 2010, according to a study released on Thursday.

One in five of all male deaths and one in 20 of all female deaths between the ages of 30 and 69 will be caused by smoking, said the study. It was conducted by a team of doctors and scientists from India, Canada and Britain and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"The results… surprised us, because smokers in India start later in life and smoke fewer cigarettes or 'bidis' than those in Europe or America, but the risks are as extreme as in the West," said Prabhat Jha of the Centre for Global Health Research at the University of Toronto, the lead author.

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THAPAR: The right to frighten 

When you think of the number of times I’ve criticised Anbumani Ramadoss — and usually pretty severely — for seeking to ban smoking or prohibit smoking in films, you might wonder why today I’m writing to support his proposal to force cigarette and bidi manufacturers to carry warning pictures and symbols on their packets. Am I being contradictory? Not at all. . . .

When Britain and Ireland banned smoking in public places, it wasn’t an easy decision to take — and I, for one, did not approve — but few doubted that from a national health perspective it made sense. It wasn’t a ban on smoking but a huge extension of the areas where you cannot smoke. After initial grumbling, the British and the Irish accepted. Like bitter medicine, they knew it’s for their good. Do our politicians have the strength to act similarly?

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Prevalence of alternative forms of tobacco use in a population of young adult military recruits 

Recent evidence suggests that the popularity of certain alternative forms of tobacco may be increasing in adolescents. Little is known, however, about the use of these products among young adults. This study examined the use of alternative tobacco products including bidis, cigars, kreteks (clove cigarettes), pipes, and smokeless tobacco in a large sample of young adult military recruits (N = 31 107). Overall, 18.5% of participants were using some form of alternative tobacco product prior to entry into Basic Military Training. Results revealed a relatively high prevalence of cigar (12.3%) and smokeless tobacco use (6.7%). Use of other products was less common, including 1.1% for pipes, 2.0% for bidis, and 3.0% for kreteks. With the exception of kreteks, which did not differ by gender, the prevalence of use of alternative tobacco products was greater for males than for females (p < .001). Patterns of use also differed according to other demographic characteristics including race, ethnicity, age, and income. Implications for surveillance and tobacco control efforts are discussed.

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Gain Insight In To The Tobacco Product Manufacturing Industry In The U.S. And Its Foreign Trade 

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c65915) has announced the addition of "Tobacco Product Manufacturing Industry In The U.S. And Its Foreign Trade (1996-2008)" to their offering.

This industry report focuses upon the Other Tobacco Product Manufacturing industry. This U.S. industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing tobacco products (except cigarettes).

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• I&B against skull & bones on tobacco packets  

The I&B ministry appears unwilling to display the controversial 'skull and crossbones' pictoral warning on tobacco products and has sought four weeks' time to develop alternative designs.

The issue, discussed by the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Wednesday, remained inconclusive. I&B minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi made a presentation to the ministers suggesting that an alternative warning design be created.

"The ministry is of the view that some other designs could be prepared by the Department of Audio-Visual Publicity (DAVP) and put before the GoM for their consideration within four weeks," Dasmunsi said. . . .

the issue remains a nettled one as bidi workers and those working in tobacco related trades constitute a powerful vote bank, one that political leaders are loath to upset. The GoM is likely to meet again to resolve the issue.

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Prospective study of smoking and tuberculosis in India 

Conclusion.

In India around 32% of tuberculosis deaths can be attributable to bidi smoking. Thus, bidi smoking seems to be an important cause of manifestation and death from tuberculosis.

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