Dr Yogesh Kumar Jain is a tobacco control project manager and a member of The Union. He received a donated membership thanks to the generosity of our existing members.
To celebrate the tobacco control experts across The Union, following World No Tobacco Day, we find out more about Yogesh, his drive to counter the tobacco industry and why he joined The Union.
I currently live in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India, and work as the Project Manager in a Bloomberg Philanthropies Grant, managed by The Union, at School of Public Health, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur.
Our work primarily involves evidence generation on various intricacies surrounding the Indian cigarillos (bidi) industry, quantify the health, economic and environmental burden due to bidi consumption in our country and disseminate the findings in the form of national and state specific reports and factsheets with the help of various regional partners of The Union.
In the past two years, we have disseminated three reports amongst high ranking stakeholders from the ministry and academia, namely: National Report on Environmental Burden due to Tobacco Product Waste in India, National Report on the Trade Lifecycle Approach to Bidi Trade in India, and the Abridged Report on Navigating the Implications of Bidi Taxation and Regulation.
Evidence generation and culture shift
I have always been intimidated by the seemingly preventable, yet ever-growing hazardous nature of the tobacco industry. After honing my skills as a public health professional I decided to work towards tobacco control specifically to generate evidences in areas where scanty empirical data is available and prepare evidence-based counter narratives to the misleading industry statements. My long-term view is to have a tobacco-free culture where tobacco is seen as a taboo by the younger generation, and not an exciting recreational option driven by peer pressure.
Recently we have launched the report on the trade lifecycle approach to bidi industry in the country and various Indian states. The reports enlist raw material production statistics and the enormous land area (450,000 hectares) being utilised for tobacco cultivation which could well be used for alternate crop cultivation instead of the 750,000 tonnes of tobacco production. The cultivators and bidi rollers face deleterious health issues and only a fraction of government-mandated minimum wages. The report enumerates and recommended substitution of tobacco farming with alternative crops, which could tremendously benefit the workers as well population by food crops rather than tobacco.
Countering tobacco industry damage
Just by hiding behind the front groups and presenting counter narratives of harm reduction, human rights and corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, the tobacco industry is allowed a free reign despite documented harms to the general population. The research and development and marketing wings of the industry are so varied and ever evolving that people tend to overlook the harms to themselves and their own near and dear ones. Such an epidemic if remains unchecked, can grow to devastating proportions in the next two-four decades effecting the productive population of nations.
Message to future tobacco control experts
For someone who is thinking of working in tobacco control, they have to remain optimistic against all odds. There are a lot of opportunities for research, advocacy and targeted interventions, yet one has to always remain updated on the new developments and narratives from the industry front groups and keep devising innovative counter strategies.
The power of The Union network
I became a member of The Union to enhance my knowledge by networking with people who share similar passion in tobacco control and share my findings through conferences, gather feedback from the fraternity and enhance my skills further.
For the same reason, I recommend other to join The Union to get access to vast resources and connect with professional across the world.
Dr Yogesh Kumar Jain (BDS, MPH, PhD (pursuing))
Project Manager – BI Grant, School of Public Health
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur