Jaipur: Rajasthan health minister Parsadi Lal Meena left doctors scratching their heads on the occasion of World Cancer Day on Friday when he claimed that 'consumption of tobacco did not cause cancer'. Meena gave the statement amid the presence of doctors and cancer experts who were attending a function organized by the state health department.
"Cancer has nothing to do with tobacco chewing or taking it in some other form. Even those people who did consume tobacco have cancer," said Meena. Asked about banning tobacco products in Rajasthan because the state has 6 per cent of cancer patients in the country, the health minister said, "People in villages who have been having tobacco for the past sixty years did not have cancer. Those who are not chewing tobacco or smoking cigarettes were diagnosed with cancer." The controversial statement left everyone surprised at the function attended by top health officials, doctors, and experts.
Read: World Cancer Day: How we can stay a step ahead of the deadly disease
