40% of Goa's women lung cancer patients are non-smokers: NGO
Almost 40% of women in Goa who have lung cancer do not smoke themselves, which means it's likely they are victims of "passive smoking", an anti-tobacco NGO said. The National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE) also said the number of women smokers in the state has increased. However, the overall percentage of smokers in Goa has dwindled in the last three decades, it added.
Non-smokers affected by passive smoking: NOTE India President
NOTE India President Dr. Shekhar Salkar said almost 40% of the women diagnosed with lung cancer in Goa are non-smokers. "Either they are affected by passive smoking because of their husband or partner (who smoke) or by some other factor," said Dr. Salkar, an oncologist.
Worried that number of women smokers has gone up: Salkar
While as much as 50% of respondents said that they smoked as per a survey conducted in Goa in 1984, the proportion has come down to 10% in 2018, Dr. Salkar claimed. "But we are worried that the number of women who smoke has gone up a bit," he said, attributing the rise to changing cultural norms, peer pressure, and the tourism industry.
90% of tobacco chewers belong to slum areas
NOTE, the NGO which conducts surveys on consumption of tobacco and its effects, says that 90% of respondents who chew tobacco were found to be from slum areas in Chimbel and Zuarinagar. As per the report of Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) India 2016-17, 4.2% of Goans smoke, while 6.5% of the state's population uses "smokeless tobacco" (chews tobacco), he said.
