21% OF MEDICAL STUDENTS CHEW TOBACCO
In a study, 21 percent of medical students were found to chew
tobacco in some form or another in their lifetime, raising
concern that future doctors would not be able to influence their
patients to give up smoking. The study appeared in BMC Public
Health on Sept 3.
Chewing tobacco is common in South Asia. Tobacco is a major
cause of morbidity and mortality. Doctors make one of the best
avenues to influence patients' tobacco use. However, medical
students addicted to tobacco are likely to retain this habit as
physicians and are unlikely to counsel patients against using
tobacco. With this background, this study was conducted with the
objective of determining the prevalence of chewing tobacco among
Pakistani medical students.
A cross sectional study was carried out in three medical
colleges of Pakistan . . .
The use of chewing tobacco among medical students cannot be
ignored. The governments should add the goal of eliminating
chewing tobacco to existing drives against cigarette smoking.
Drives in Karachi should focus more on eliminating paan usage
while those in NWFP should focus more on the use of naswar.
Medical colleges should provide greater education about the
myths and hazards of chewing tobacco.
