Pan masala to be banned in Uttar Pradesh, hints Health Minister

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh on Thursday hinted that the government may impose a complete ban on sale and consumption of 'pan masala' across the state.

Speaking to the reporters at the website launch function of Prime Minister Public Drug Centres, the UP Health Minister said, "Pan masala is highly injurious to health and should be banned throughout the country."

"Consumption of unhealthy food and other edible products on a daily basis is the reason behind the rising number of cancer cases across the state. Experts believe that 'pan masala' is the biggest reason behind the prevailing disease," he added.

"Being the Health Minister of the state, I must say that pan masala should be banned completely," he further said.

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It may be mentioned that Kanpur (a district in UP) has been one of the biggest hubs of 'pan masala' business across the country. According to the stats, Kanpur itself gives over Rs 400 crore business to the country through the sale of pan masala products.

Incidentally, UP has been the frontrunner in terms of cancer patients. The state currently has over 1.5 lakh cancer patients, 80 per cent of whom are in the fourth stage of the disease.

Incidentally, the UP government and the Centre on Thursday signed a MoU, under which the central government would help the state to establish 1,000 Public Drug Centres across the state.