Charudutta Panigrahi of India at the World Health Summit

Nirvik Bureau, Bhubaneswar, 6 November 2022

On 17th October, WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, formally launched the Tobacco Cessation Consortium, at the World Health Summit in Berlin. Charudutta Panigrahi, Advisor FIDR, noted author & public policy leader of India, was invited to the World Health Summit to join the high table of global health policy & initiatives.This has been featured in the New York Times too.

He was a panelist at the launch of the event along with the DG of WHO Dr. Tedros, Worldwide Chairman of Johnson & Johnson Thibaut Mongon, Director of WHO Dr. Krech, Director of Google, Susan Thomas, VP, Apotex Jordan Berman, CEO of Praekelt.org, Debbie Rogers & Senior Journalist CNN International, Hannah Jones.The World Health Summit was inaugurated by the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. FIDR, mentored by Charudutta, is a policy think tank and a last-mile implementing partner of communities, multinational business corporations, and governments, in India and outside.

Some of the others who were together in the Summit were French President Emanuel Macron, Bill Gates, Sandra Gallina, European Commission, Antonio Gutteres, UN Secretary General, Ministers from various countries/continents, academicians from Oxford, Erasmus, Harvard Universities and other global leaders.

Tobacco cessation is a critical public health investment. It saves lives, protects health and ultimately, cuts government costs. In the context of the pandemic, evidence has revealed that smokers are at an increased risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes and death.

The Consortium has five pillars and will ramp up focus on solving challenges in collaboration with partners.

1. Pharmacotherapies and supply – to ensure steady delivery of products and medicines that help people quit tobacco
2. Health systems strengthening – to ensure that people have the support they need to quit
3. Advocacy and policy – to speak to people in power and advocate for increased investment in cessation
4. Research and development – to identify new innovations and research ideas
5. Digital and technology – to reach more people through digital channels and promote the tools developed by our partners.

Globally, an estimated 1.3 billion people use tobacco products, and 80% of those tobacco users live in low and middle-income countries, where the burden of tobacco-related illness is the heaviest. The WHO Tobacco Cessation Consortium proposes innovative, last mile interventions such as accessible digital tools, which will slow down the increase of deaths due to tobacco in Sub-Saharan Africa, against the backdrop of a growing population of youth and an increase in the burden of non-communicable diseases. The number of tobacco users in sub-Saharan Africa is projected to increase to 62 million by 2025.

Charudutta, reaffirmed his commitment to help people quit tobacco use, enhance the use of NRTs which is vital to ending the tobacco epidemic. When tobacco users become aware of the dangers of tobacco, most want to quit. About 60% of tobacco users worldwide have expressed a desire to quit, but only 30% have access to comprehensive tobacco cessation services. He says, “the tobacco industry has a far bigger impact on the planet than we realise. A WHO report has established that every year, tobacco costs the world 600 million trees, 2000000 hectares of land, 22 billion tonnes of water and releases 84 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere, according to the report. The CO2 emissions alone are equivalent to one-fifth of what is produced by the airline industry. Most tobacco is grown in low or middle-income countries where water and farmland are desperately needed to produce food. Instead, they are being used to grow these “deadly” tobacco plants, while more and more forests are cleared.

Charudutta is preparing a blueprint to help cities and towns in Odisha and other states tackle tobacco related climate damage. Tobacco products are the most littered item on the planet, containing over 7000 toxic chemicals, which impact our environment when left behind. In smart cities like Bhubaneswar, as an example, cigarette butts should be stopped from being discarded (smoking stopped) because they are the second biggest source of plastic pollution worldwide, containing microplastics that persist in the environment. Other products like smokeless tobacco and e-cigarettes also add to the plastic pollution problem. “Roughly 4.5 trillion cigarette filters pollute our oceans, rivers, city sidewalks, parks, soil and beaches every year,” says the WHO report. Each filter that is callously thrown away can pollute up to 100 litres of water. The city management has to cough up taxpayers money to clean up littered tobacco products. The tobacco industry which causes the problem doesn’t pay. India roughly spends about $700 million to pick up these items. Tobacco industry undoubtedly is one of the biggest polluters that we know of.

Charudutta Panigrahi at the discussion making a point to Dr Tedros, DG, WHO and others. The discussion was moderated by Hannah Jones, CNN International.