Bidi workers

Impact: George Institute study on occupational health hazards among ‘bidi’ workers informs WHO policy brief

After reviewing the current evidence on occupational health hazards of bidi workers, WHO-India has issued a policy brief recommending that bidi rolling should be classified as a hazardous process.  Bidi - dry tobacco rolled in a leaf native to the country – is the most common smoking product in India. With 85 percent market share, the bidi industry is estimated to employ about 49 lakh (4.9 million) people, predominantly in the unorganised sector. Women comprise 90 percent of this workforce.

The George Institute was earlier this year commissioned by WHO-India to conduct a systematic review on the occupational health hazards of bidi workers in India.

This review formed the basis of WHO-India’s recent policy brief which provides evidence for the recommendation that bidi rolling work needs to be classified as a hazardous process.

Our review of 95 research studies in India showed that bidi workers have a high prevalence of respiratory, musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, neurological, skin, and cardiovascular disorders. This is in addition to diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat.

For women, who comprise most of the bidi workforce, the health hazards are particularly serious. Studies have reported higher risk of cervical cancer, decreased fertility, increased frequency of miscarriages and increased risk of anaemia and pregnancy induced hypertension among them. Children of bidi workers tend to have low birth weight, are small for gestational age and are more likely to have stunting, respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses.

The magnitude of literature on the high prevalence of disease conditions and the consistency in evidence from case-control studies indicate a potentially causal relationship between bidi workers and adverse health outcomes because of their occupation, hazardous work environment and socio-economic conditions.

In a media statement about the policy brief, Dr Roderico H. Ofrin, WHO Representative to India, said, “About 90 percent bidi rollers in India are women and there is a need to tailor specific health interventions to address health issues faced by them and integrate these with existing public health programmes. In addition, safe working conditions and alternative sources of livelihood are also needed.”

India is a signatory to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and implementing the recommendations of the study will strengthen India’s already strong commitment towards Articles 17 and 18 of the Convention.

Learn more about our project on environmental risks and health hazards of bidi workers and their communities in India.

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Impacting Policy - 22/12/2022

Most read story 2022

The George Institute’s most read research stories of 2022!

2022 has been a significant year for The George Institute. As we emerged from the worst of the pandemic, our team has continued to deliver ground-breaking research across our strategic pillars of better care, better treatments and healthier societies. We’ve forged new research partnerships, initiated a program of work in Africa and welcomed new leadership across our offices.

As we get ready to kickstart new projects in 2023, here’s a look at this year’s research stories that got the most attention from our readers!

Time to shift research focus from ‘bikini medicine’ to what is really ailing women

A study led by Laura Hallam in March 2022 found that women’s health research remains disproportionately focused on the reproductive years - particularly on pregnancy – with few articles on the major causes of illness and death in women. The team concluded that there is much work to be done by journals, funders, and researchers to broaden understanding of women’s health, so that women of all ages are appropriately and effectively served by scientific research and the health benefits that result from it.

An apple a day on doctors’ orders keeps ill health away

Research led by Jason Wu in October found that fresh fruit and vegetables prescribed by doctors could be an effective way to improve the health of Australians with type 2 diabetes. Researchers at found that people with type 2 diabetes and high blood sugar who took part in a ‘produce prescription’ program over 12 weeks ate nearly two extra servings of fruit and vegetables a day, lost weight and improved their blood cholesterol levels.

‘Glass baby’ makes future parents think before they drink

A study by Simone Pettigrew published in September showed how a hard-hitting awareness campaign on the dangers of drinking during pregnancy successfully increased concerns about unborn babies’ exposure to alcohol and discouraged women from drinking while pregnant.

The campaign, featuring a glass mould of a fetus being filled with red wine through a glass placenta, also made the majority of those who saw it more likely to support others not to drink during pregnancy.

Best evidence yet that lowering blood pressure can prevent dementia

In October, a global study led by Ruth Peters provided the strongest evidence to date that lowering blood pressure in later life can cut the risk of dementia. Researchers hope the results will help in designing public health measures to slow the advance of dementia as well as informing treatment, where there may be hesitations around how far to lower blood pressure in older age.

George Institute researchers to benefit from new funding announced by Australian Government

In October, seven George Institute researchers were announced as recipients of the Government’s 2022 Investigator Grant scheme, designed to support emerging and established leaders in health and medical research across Australia to tackle our greatest health challenges.

The Institute’s successful projects encompassed a wide range of these challenges from better ways of treating cardiovascular disease and sepsis, encouraging uptake of salt substitutes, improving the food environment, reducing risks of drowning, and helping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples into employment for better health and wellbeing.

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Blog: Reflections- Key take outs and reflections from ‘Coffee with Latin America: Telehealth, building a healthier world through technology’

Telehealth is a way we connect and treat when physical meeting is difficult. The benefits and challenges have been thrown into the spotlight even more since the necessity of telehealth through the pandemic.

To discuss this, Coffee With Latin America 'Telehealth, building a healthier world through technology’ was held on the 29th of November 2022. Four speakers from Peru, Colombia, Argentina and Chile shared their experience of using information and communication technology to deliver health services and increase healthcare access.

Farewell to Dr Olive Kobusingye, Distinguished Fellow, retiring from academia

Dr Olive Kobusingye, a renowned trauma surgeon, injury researcher, writer and Distinguished Fellow of The George Institute for Global Health, is retiring from academia at the end of the year. Adding to her existing collaborations with The George Institute in injury prevention, Olive has been a Distinguished Fellow since 2019. We are grateful for Olive’s passion for sharing knowledge, her collaborative spirit, and her contribution to capacity strengthening.

Simone-Pettigrew

Government funding will see world-first alcohol monitoring system developed in Australia

Professor Simone Pettigrew, Program Director, Health Promotion and Behaviour Change, at The George Institute has been awarded nearly $800k over three years to develop and apply a world-first system for monitoring the alcohol market.

The award is part of the Government’s National Health and Medical Research Council 2022 Ideas Grant scheme, which supports innovative projects addressing a specific question in any area of health and medical research.

Alcohol use is deeply ingrained in Australian society, accounting for nearly five percent of our total disease burden and causing 6,000 deaths per year.

While there are favourable downward trends, Australians remain heavy drinkers by world standards, consuming 9.5 litres of pure alcohol each per year, and the size and influence of the highly concentrated alcohol industry presents challenges for regulators.

This project will deliver a world-first system for monitoring, analysing, and reporting on the Australian alcohol market. It will generate comprehensive and unique new data to inform evidence-based alcohol policy relating to product composition, on-pack product promotion (including the use of nutrition and marketing claims), and compliance with product labelling requirements.

To deliver this system efficiently and cost-effectively Prof Pettigrew and her team will leverage existing infrastructure developed by The George Institute to monitor the food industry – the FoodSwitch platform.

As well as monitoring and tracking the alcohol market over time, the team will also conduct focus groups and surveys to assess how drinkers respond to different product attributes like ‘low sugar’ or pregnancy warning labels and to what degree they influence purchasing decisions.

Prof Pettigrew said that this work would shed light on the nature of the alcohol market and likely implications for alcohol consumption of marketplace trends and changes in alcohol policy.

“The information generated from our project will optimise the potential for alcohol policy interventions to improve health outcomes and help prevent avoidable deaths, disease, and injury from alcohol use,” she said.

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