Indian Government Releases Report on Bidis, India's Most Deadly Form of Tobacco
08 May 2008
Related information
- Facts and information about bidis >>
- Read the March 2008 report, Bidi Smoking and Public Health (PDF)
- Report: India Should Increase Tax Rates on Bidis (PDF)
A landmark report (PDF) released by India's Ministry of Health finds that bidis — India's most commonly used form of tobacco — cause tremendous health, economic and social harm.
Bidi smoking claims hundreds of thousands of lives each year, while the bidi industry undermines India's economic progress and condemns millions of exploited workers to extreme poverty.
Bidis consist of shredded tobacco that are hand rolled in a tendu leaf and secured with a colorful string at one end. Bidis are usually smoked by men, but produced mainly by women and children who roll them in their homes.
The report's key findings include:
- Bidi smoking kills and harms health. India's toll of premature, tobacco-related deaths is expected to rise from 700,000 annually to 930,000 by the year 2010, with bidis currently accounting for 77 percent of the market for smoked tobacco.
Studies indicate that bidi smokers are five to six times more likely to develop lung cancer than nonsmokers. Bidi smoking has been found to increase the risk of chronic bronchitis, tuberculosis, and other respiratory diseases.
- Tobacco cultivation and bidi rolling cause serious occupational hazards to workers and their families.
- Bidi rolling forces the poor to remain in extreme poverty, with very low wages.
- Women and children have the greatest burden of bidi production and the financial exploitation and health ailments that frequently result.
These findings should spur India to take scientifically proven steps to reduce bidi smoking and other tobacco use. Steps include requiring large, pictorial warnings on all tobacco products and raising taxes on tobacco products, including bidis.