Suchergebnisse

The Chotanagpur-Santal Pargana (CSP), the 'Ruhr of India' has been the cradle of mineral exploitation and mineral based industries since the dawn of 20th century. The post-Independence era witnessed a rapid growth in heavy industries and subsequent urbanisation. To cater the energy need, coal based power stations were installed in Damodar valley. Such economic ventures were concentrated mainly in the Damodar and Subernarekha river valleys. These anthropogenic activities triggered a series of environmental degradation. Large scale deforestation led to wide spread soil erosion due to which loss of valuable topsoil and lowering of water table has taken place. The preference for open cast mining practice for more mineral exploitation especially coal, iron ore and bauxite has further aggravated the problem in this fragile eco-system. The discharge of large volume of untreated or semi-treated industrial effluents has literally turned the river Damodar into an "industrial effluent channel.' Besides being unethical and inhumane, these acts are a gross violation of environmental laws. Ironically, the major culprit industries are public sector undertakings. Even the highly polluted ambient air in the mining and associated industrial areas, especially in the Damodar valley has made the region a virtual gas chamber gradually pushing the local populace towards 'extinction'. The vast surface water resources are trapped or are in a process to be trapped leading to submergence of large agricultural and forest area and displacement of local inhabitants which are mostly tribals. Almost all such act of 'development' has led to delinking of tribals from their root as well as distortion of socio-cultural fabric.

Introduction: Sociodemographic factor, awareness of the health effects and legislative law can lead to an increase in cessation of tobacco. Tobacco related knowledge and awareness are found to be better in people working in the health care sector as compared to the general population. The objective of the study was to find the prevalence of quitting rate amongst the health workers and perceived harmful effects on health, tobacco types and awareness of the anti -smoking legislation law in India among the health care workers working in a tertiary care hospital. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 306 hospital staff (196 housekeeping staff and 110 nursing orderlies) at a tertiary care hospital of Faridabad in 2018. Convenience sampling was conducted, and data were collected through pre tested semi structured questionnaires on sociodemographic details, awareness of ill effects of tobacco and intention to quit. Results: Among 133 current tobacco users, intention to quit smoking was present in only 96 respondents (72.18%). There was association between age, marital status and type of family with the intention to quit. 63 respondents (21%) were unaware that smoking causes lung cancer and 115 (38%) of the total respondents did not consider smokeless tobacco as a causal risk factor for cancer. A total of 180 respondents (58.8%) were not aware of anti-tobacco control laws in India. Moreover, it was found that health concern was commonest reason of intention to quit. Conclusions: Intention to quit tobacco among study participants was low, so there is need to look for knowledge gaps about harms of different types of products and anti-tobacco legislation. More comprehensive tobacco cessation services should also be prioritized in the heath sector.Keywords: awareness of ill effects, COTPA, India, intention to quit, tobacco