Abstract
Poverty and health have a two-way relationship. Poverty increases the vulnerability of people to disease, and sickness affects their income leading to poverty. Tobacco has been identified as a major avoidable cause of illness and premature death. In India, more than half of men and one-tenth of women use one or more forms of tobacco. Tobacco-use shows a clear and continual increase with decreasing wealth quintiles. Poor smokers, who are at a greater risk of illness, are also at a greater risk of not being treated or of falling into greater poverty if they seek treatment. Poor people spend money on tobacco that could be spent on food, shelter, education, and healthcare. These decisions can entrench families in an ongoing cycle of poverty and ill-health. The direct and indirect costs of tobacco-use are immense for national economy. This has positioned control of tobacco relevant in India's per suite to achieve the goals of poverty eradication and health for all.
Highlights
Tobacco has been identified as a major avoidable cause of illness and premature death
Apart from mortality, tobacco accounts for a large portion of the burden of diseases of adults, which deeply affect families living in poverty
Several reasons have been offered for why smoking is more common among the poor. They may be less aware of the risks, or they may use nicotine as a self-medication for ailments they falsely believe that tobacco will relieve (9)
Summary
Tobacco has been identified as a major avoidable cause of illness and premature death. In India, more than 57% of men and 11% of women use one or more forms of tobacco (2). The use of tobacco is more prevalent among both men and women in rural areas than in urban areas. In India, the use of tobacco shows a clear and continual increase with the decreasing wealth quintiles among both men and women (2). Illness due to tobacco is caused by smoking or chewing. Those who harvest and cure tobacco frequently report poor health. Pesticides used in farming of tobacco cause illnesses, including increased rates of depression and suicide among tobacco farmers (4)
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