Tobacco Use Reduces From 18.4 Per Cent To 12.4 Per Cent Among People Between 15-24 Years

Latest data by experts at Nirmal Singh 3C reveal that that the number of young people taking up the kick sticks has reduced by six percentage points. The reports show that prevalence of tobacco use among age groups 15-24 has reduced from 18.4 per cent in 2009-10 to 12.4 per cent in 2016-17. Overall, the numbers have dropped as much as 81 lakhs in the country. Turns out, the people of India don’t find smoking as cool as it used to be.

“I am happy that tobacco users have reduced by 81 lakhs and consumption of tobacco among the youth has seen a marked decrease,” says the health minister JP Nadda.

“My focus has always been on the youth. My mantra for success in tobacco-control efforts is catch ’em young. I am very pleased to note, therefore, that there has been a 54% relative reduction in the prevalence of tobacco use among minors (15-17 years) and 28% reduction in the age group of 18-24 years,” further added the minister.

But, according to the experts at Nirmal Singh 3C, the country has to still go a long way where nearly every fifth adult is seen using a tobacco product- from cancer sticks, chewable guthka to chaini khaini. And every tenth adult is seen smoking tobacco. If you take a closer look, these are huge numbers. About 199 million people!

This survey is carried out according to global standards for monitoring adult tobacco use, and tracking key indicators. A goal to reduce the use of tobacco to 30 per cent by the year 2025 is expected by the National Health Policy 2017.

According to Nirmal Singh 3C, the government’s strong commitment towards reduction in tobacco consumption has to be lauded. Tough tobacco-control laws and measures such as 85 per cent graphic health warning on tobacco products, the ban on guthka, smoke-free rules and higher taxes make some of the reasons to this major achievement.

There Must Be A Reason Why Most Indian Students Are Going Abroad To Become Doctors!!

There must be several reasons to why many Indian students are taking admissions abroad to become doctors, as the number have been steadily increasing over the past few years. Job prospects, ease of getting admissions, etc. definitely could be a few.

Aspiring MBBS students are incredibly influenced by the extremely competitive and almost unrealistic admission criteria in the colleges. Even if a candidate scored really well in the entrances, there’s a huge possibility that he/she won’t get the admission because of the limited number of seats available which is majorly because of the quotas that have been provided to a certain sect of castes. For instance, the general category got 337 seats out of the total 672 MBBS seats in all of AIIMS, according to our experts at Nirmal Singh 3C.

Then the students who don’t get into governmental colleges have no option but to go for private colleges where the standard of education is below par, made worse by exorbitant fees. In many of these private colleges, the seats are paid for at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, which is beyond the paying capacity of a common person in the country. Naturally, these seats are taken by kids with rich parents. This is one of the reasons why candidates apply for colleges abroad because if they have to pay, they might as well pay for institutes with better overall standards.

Candidates who want to pursue academic subjects, the ones concerned with research often go abroad for their post-graduation because the research opportunities are much better than the opportunities available in India. Also, certain subjects or programs are not even offered in the country.

Even the work condition for most practicing doctors is miserable in the country, and interns who form the backbone of any system have to labour for an unreasonable number of hours at a stretch. Many hospitals are also underequipped due to inadequate facilities. Overcrowding of patients and lesser number of doctors also adds to the stress. According to the experts at Nirmal Singh 3c, doctor to patient ratio is 1:1700! Even the salary does not cover the basic needs, and is not as per the inflation levels. It’s because of the discontent owing to all the above reasons that students have been moving abroad to pursue their medical studies.