GDCH takes up fight against chewing tobacco

Government Dental College and Hospital (GDCH), Nagpur, which played a major role in bringing a ban on gutkha, is now focusing on other tobacco products through its tobacco cessation programme. The hospital is working towards collection of data related to tobacco habits among various population groups, like women, schoolchildren and labourers, and the effects on their health. This data will be passed on to the government agencies.

The hospital has started a counselling centre in its premises after surveying tobacco consumption among unskilled workers of the city. They aim to make the government take some action against the manufacture and sale of these products. Soon, another group of interns will be undertaking similar surveys on other sets of people. "The survey included 310 unskilled workers of the city and was done by 12 interns under the interns' module as per guidelines of Dental Council of India to take up activities of social relevance and mass awareness," said dean Dr Vinay Hazarey.

He said that along with medication and treatment, a holistic, spiritual approach has to be taken to bring about behavioural changes among the addicts. The hospital has taken the help of renowned psychiatrist Dr Sudhir Bahve and head of psychiatry department of NKP Salve Institute of Medical Sciences to teach interns how to deal with addicts and their families. "We found that many workers, despite knowing all dangers, were not scared by the prospect of having some fatal disease as a result of tobacco consumption," said Dr Shridhar Limbiar, an intern associated with the survey.

Coordinator of the training module Dr Ravi Athawale said, "Those who did want to give up the habit had no idea how to do it or whom to approach about it. More than a third of them had some precancerous condition, like difficulty in opening mouth and swallowing, or white patches in mouth, which could transform into cancer." He said that most of the labourers hooked to the habit were between the ages of 20 and 40. Many middle-aged women are also getting hooked to this habit, he added.