Tarun Karthick
Sri Vijaya Puram, 21 July 2025
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands could also be recognized for his or her scenic magnificence and wealthy biodiversity, however beneath the floor, a grave public well being disaster is tightening its grip. Data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) 2019-20 has revealed disturbingly excessive ranges of tobacco consumption throughout the islands—making it crucial for the Health Department to put tobacco cessation efforts on the very prime of its agenda.
The numbers depart no room for complacency.
According to NFHS-5 information, 76.8% of males and 63.5% of girls in Nicobar district use tobacco. In North and Middle Andaman, utilization stays dangerously excessive with 70.5% of males and 46.8% of girls reporting tobacco use. Even South Andaman, which fares barely higher, exhibits 50.8% of males and 19.6% of girls are tobacco customers.
These figures are far increased than the nationwide common—significantly amongst girls—and expose a large hole in public well being outreach, consciousness, and cessation help throughout the UT.
The implications are extreme. Tobacco consumption is instantly linked to a number of life-threatening sicknesses together with oral and lung most cancers, coronary heart illness, stroke, and continual respiratory situations. In girls, particularly these of reproductive age, tobacco use can result in being pregnant problems and hurt little one well being outcomes. The excessive prevalence in tribal and distant areas additional exacerbates vulnerabilities in communities that already face challenges in accessing healthcare.
Given this situation, tobacco cessation can’t stay a peripheral concern. It have to be handled as an emergency well being precedence.
What Needs to Change—Now
– Establish Island-Wide Cessation Clinics: Every Primary Health Centre and hospital have to be geared up with educated counselors, entry to free nicotine substitute remedy, and follow-up methods for these attempting to stop.
– Launch Targeted Awareness Campaigns: Public messaging—particularly in native languages—should attain the grassroots. Community leaders, academics, healthcare staff, and even tribal councils needs to be empowered to guide anti-tobacco schooling initiatives.
– Strengthen Regulations and Enforcement: Enforcement of current tobacco management legal guidelines, together with age restrictions on gross sales have to be non-negotiable. Special consideration needs to be paid to stopping youth initiation.
– Prioritize Women and Vulnerable Populations: With an alarming 63.5% of girls in Nicobar utilizing tobacco, tailor-made cessation and help programmes for ladies have to be rolled out instantly. These must also tackle the socio-cultural norms which have made tobacco use so widespread.
– Community Engagement is Key: No coverage can succeed with out grassroots participation. The Health Department should collaborate with Panchayats, NGOs, SHGs, and tribal leaders to create a motion rooted in native realities.
This is a Fight We Cannot Afford to Lose
Every share level within the NFHS-5 information represents a whole bunch of lives impacted by dependancy and preventable illness. For a area already combating logistical and infrastructure challenges, the long-term burden of tobacco-related sickness might overwhelm the healthcare system if left unchecked.
The Health Department of the Andaman and Nicobar Administration now stands at a crossroads. It can deal with these numbers as simply one other statistic—or it could actually acknowledge them as a clarion name for pressing, aggressive, and sustained tobacco cessation efforts.
The time to behave is now. Tobacco management should not wait till extra lives are misplaced, extra households are damaged, and extra youth are trapped in dependancy. With the suitable management, political will, and neighborhood partnerships, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands can flip the tide—and reclaim the well being and hope of its folks.
