By Shalini Bhardwaj
New Delhi [India], October 29 (ANI): India continues to face a major burden of stroke and heart problems, making the prevention of modifiable danger components a public-health precedence. Tobacco use stays a serious preventable contributor to this burden.Â
On World Stroke Day, specialists are calling for a stronger, extra complete method to tobacco management that strikes past consciousness campaigns to deal with nicotine dependence, enhance entry to cessation assist and strengthen prevention efforts.
A 2024 evaluation of Global Burden of Disease knowledge estimated that tobacco use contributed to 12% of stroke deaths in India, whereas excessive systolic blood stress accounted for 56%. These findings spotlight the necessity to deal with tobacco use alongside different main danger components as a part of a broader technique to stop stroke and heart problems.
Dr Yashpal Singh Bundela, Director of Neurosurgery and Neurosciences at Medanta Super Speciality Hospital, Noida, mentioned, “We cannot keep telling people to quit and assume the problem is solved. Nicotine dependence can make quitting difficult, even when people understand the health risks. With the burden of tobacco-related diseases continuing to pose a serious public-health challenge, we need to act now.’
‘Helping people stop smoking must remain the priority, supported by practical, sustained cessation services and access to clinically established aids such as nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). Change will not be easy, but we must start somewhere. Moving beyond awareness to accessible, evidence-based support is an essential step towards reducing tobacco use and preventing related diseases,’ he added.
The scale of tobacco use makes this an urgent public-health concern. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that tobacco use accounts for nearly 1.35 million deaths annually in India. The country’s tobacco burden extends beyond cigarettes to bidis and smokeless products such as khaini, gutkha and zarda. This diversity calls for prevention and cessation strategies that reflect different patterns of tobacco use and make quitting support accessible to people across communities.
Tobacco control also requires a clear understanding of the health risks associated with tobacco and nicotine. Nicotine is addictive, while the combustion of tobacco releases toxic chemicals associated with serious cardiovascular harm. Addressing tobacco dependence therefore requires a combination of prevention, effective cessation support, public education and continued scientific research to inform public-health decisions.
International experience can offer useful lessons for strengthening tobacco control. A nationally representative Japanese study published in 2026 found that cigarette use among people aged 15-64 declined from 20.7% in 2017 to 12.3% in 2025, while heated tobacco use increased from 5.3% to 11.7%. Overall tobacco-product use declined more modestly, while dual use increased.
These findings describe changing patterns of tobacco use but do not establish that the rise in heated tobacco use caused cigarette smoking to decline or reduced long-term cardiovascular and stroke risks. They underline the importance of examining international experiences carefully and evaluating their public-health implications in the Indian context.
Dr Vikas Mittal, Director, Department of Respiratory Medicine, C K Birla Hospital, Punjabi Bagh, added, “Improving public well being requires us to look past standard approaches to tobacco management and be taught from the experiences of nations which have made progress in lowering tobacco use.’
‘India will need to have an open, evidence-based dialogue on whether or not an entire ban on tobacco or newer, more practical approaches to prevention and cessation may ship higher public-health outcomes. The precedence should be to cut back tobacco consumption, forestall younger folks from beginning and make it simpler for individuals who use tobacco to stop. Ultimately, our method ought to be guided by one measure: what works finest to guard public well being and cut back the burden of tobacco-related ailments, together with stroke and heart problems,’ he added.
On World Stroke Day, lowering stroke and cardiovascular danger requires sustained motion on tobacco use alongside different established danger components, notably hypertension.
Strengthening cessation assist, stopping tobacco initiation and studying from evidence-based public-health interventions can assist India construct a more practical response to tobacco-related illness and defend the well being of future generations. (ANI)