About a decade ago, tobacco consumption rate was high in India as compared to the current state. But the current rate has lowered down. China, at present, is the leading producer as well as consumer in the world, keeping the cancer rate high. Tobacco, in India, is consumed highly in six North-eastern states which are Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura and Assam. According to the survey done by the National Family Health Survey 2015-16 (NFHS-4), here, 70 % of people consume tobacco in some way or the other. This rate is 26 per cent point higher than the national average.
The highest tobacco consuming state among them is Mizoram where 80.4 per cent men and 59.2 per cent women consumes tobacco. These men and women are from the age of 15 to 49 years. Ranking by consumption of tobacco, it is followed by Meghalaya (72.2 per cent), Manipur (70.6 per cent), Nagaland (69.4 per cent), Tripura (67.8 per cent) and Assam (63.9 per cent). At 37.7 per cent, the female average for tobacco users in Manipur, Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland was way higher the national average of 6.8 per cent.
The North-eastern states has been reported a higher risk of cancer. Men and women die of tobacco consumption. 112 men and 60 women of 1000 die of cancer which is caused due to the excessive consumption of tobacco. The national average is 47 for men and 44 for women according to the 2012 Million Death Study published in The Lancet, which is way lower than that of North-eastern States.
