A Strong Step Towards a Tobacco-Free Karnataka. A Message from a Radiation Oncologist on the Karnataka Government’s Ban on Tobacco- and Nicotine-Containing Products By Dr. M. G. Giriyappagoudar, MD (Radiation Oncology), DMRT Senior Radiation Oncologist, HCG Cancer Centre, Hubballi
As a senior Radiation Oncologist serving patients in North Karnataka, I warmly welcome the Karnataka Government’s recent decision to prohibit, for one year, the manufacture, storage, transportation, distribution and sale of gutkha, pan masala and other specified products containing tobacco and/or nicotine . The order of the Commissioner of Food Safety, Karnataka, took effect from 10 August 2026 and has been issued in the interest of public health. I sincerely congratulate and thank the Government of Karnataka, the Food Safety Commissioner and the officials involved in implementing this important public-health measure . Why this decision matters to cancer doctors Every day, cancer specialists witness the devastating consequences of tobacco use—not merely in statistics, but in the lives of real people and their families. As a Radiation Oncologist, I regularly treat patients with oral cavity, tongue, cheek, oropharyngeal, hypopharyngeal, laryngeal and other head-and-neck cancers . A sign...