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Gangtok : In a landmark development towards converting itself into the healthiest state in India within the next five years, Sikkim was declared as a ''Smoke Free State'' on the World No Tobacco Day on May 31. With this, the state has become the first ever state of its kind in the country.
Making a formal declaration to this effect at a function to mark the World No Tobacco Day here, state Health Minister DN Thakarpa described it as a great achievement of the SDF government. It would also have a significant impact on the health and economy of the state, he added.
He said four-fifth of total deaths in Sikkim was due to Non Communicable Diseases and tobacco was the most important preventable cause of death. Even among communicable diseases, Tuberculosis was one of the major killer diseases which had strong association with smoking as the smokers suffered three times more from TB and their death rate too was three to four times higher, he informed.
Claiming that Sikkim had made great progress in implementation of Smoke free Laws which was well appreciated by different international organisations, the minister said the declaration was based on objective assessment of smoke free status as per the norms laid in the National Level Review of Smoke Free Status held at Goa in 2009.
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