Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS-4)

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In news- Recently, the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare presided over the release of National Fact Sheet Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS-4), India, 2019.

About Global Youth Tobacco Survey-4

• The 4th survey  was conducted in 2019 by the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). 
• The survey was designed to produce national estimates of tobacco use among school going children aged 13-15 years at the state level and Union Territory (UT) by sex, location of school (rural-urban), and management of school (public-private). 
• The first three rounds of GYTS were conducted in 2003, 2006 and 2009.
• A total of 97,302 students from 987schools (Public-544; Private-443) participated in the survey.
• The objective of the survey was to provide information on tobacco use, cessation, second-hand smoke, access and availability, exposure to anti-tobacco information, awareness and receptivity to tobacco marketing, knowledge, and attitudes.
• The GYTS is an important tool to assist countries in supporting WHO MPOWER, a package of six evidence-based demand reduction measures contained in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
• WHO, spearheaded by the Tobacco Free Initiative (TFI), UNICEF and the Office on Smoking and Health at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (OSH-CDC), developed the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS)

Key findings of the survey

Tobacco use:

• Nearly one-fifth of the students aged 13-15 used any form of the tobacco product (smoking, smokeless, and any other form) in their life. 
•  Between the last two surveys, the current use declined by 42% (2009-2019).

• Prevalence of tobacco use among boys was 9.6% and among girls was 7.4%.
• The prevalence of smoking tobacco was 7.3%. 
• In the case of smokeless tobacco products, the prevalence was 4.1%.
• Ever use of e-cigarette among the students was 2.8%.
• Use of any form of tobacco was higher among boys than girls.
• The current use of tobacco among students across the States/ UTs ranged from the highest in Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram (58% each) to the lowest in Himachal Pradesh (1.1%) and Karnataka (1.2%).

Age of initiation of tobacco:

• 38% of cigarettes, 47% of bidi smokers and 52% of smokeless tobacco users initiated the use before their 10th birthday. 
• The median age at initiation of cigarette and bidi smoking, and smokeless tobacco use were 11.5 years, 10.5 years and 9.9 years respectively.

Cessation:

• 2 in 10 current smokers tried to quit smoking in the past 12 months and another 2 in 10 students wanted to quit smoking now.
• 27%of current users of smokeless tobacco tried to quit using in past 12 months and another 25% wanted to quit now.

Second-hand smoke:

• 29.5% of the students were exposed to second-hand smoke (11.2% at home, 21.2% inside enclosed public places, 23.4 at outdoor public places).

Access & availability:

• 69% of current cigarette smokers and 78% of current bidi smokers bought cigarettes/bidis from a store, paan shop, street vendor or vending machine.
• Among the current smokers who bought cigarette/bidi, 45% of cigarette smokers and 47% of bidi smokers were not refused because of their age.

Media and anti-tobacco messages:

• 52% of students noticed anti-tobacco messages in the mass media.
• 18% of students noticed tobacco advertisements or promotions when visiting points of sale.

Knowledge & attitudes:

• 71% of students thought other people’s cigarette smoking is harmful to them.
• 58% of students favoured ban on smoking inside enclosed public places.

School policy:

• 85% of school heads were aware of COTPA, 2003.
• 83% of schools were aware of the policy to display ‘tobacco-free school’ board.

The State-wise tobacco consumption pattern was also brought out in the survey.

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