Directors of 14 regional cancer centres across the country, including the Indian Dental Association and Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Health Minister Ghulab Nabi Azad urging them to bring in a nationwide ban on the sale of gutka/pan masala products in the country. The move comes after cancer specialists/oncologists, oral cancer victims and public health experts lauded the government for banning gutka in over 10 States under the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) regulations, which prohibit the addition of tobacco or nicotine in food, and urged the government to ensure effective implementation of this notification in all the States. Meanwhile, in their letter, submitted in the last week of October, the directors have raised serious concerns about the growing gutka/pan masala menace and have urged the government to take immediate action to completely stop the sale of smokeless tobacco products (specifically gutka/pan masala) throughout the country. Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, head and neck surgeon Pankaj Chaturvedi said: “The ban that has been brought in is a welcome move and we hope it will save millions of youth from dying prematurely. It will save billions of losses on healthcare.” Voluntary Health Association of India executive director Bhavna B. Mukhopadhyay said: “India has the highest prevalence of oral cancer globally, with 75,000 to 80,000 new cases of oral cancers in a year. Smokeless tobacco, which contains 3,095 chemicals, out of which 28 are cancer-causing, and other such products are consumed by a large and growing number of Indians, making India the cancer capital of the world. Gutka sold in small pouches across the country has become a very serious health hazard. Easy availability and low prices makes it popular amongst youth and women.”