National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP)
Why it Matters?
India received the 2025 Bloomberg Philanthropies Award for Global Tobacco Control under the ‘O’ category for its nationwide efforts in tobacco cessation through the National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP).
What You Should Know?
It was launched in 2007-08 during the 11th Five-Year Plan.
The National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP) aims to reduce tobacco consumption and its health impacts.
The programme aims to:
Create awareness about the harmful effects of tobacco;
Reduce the production and supply of tobacco products;
Ensure effective implementation of COTPA, 2003 (Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act);
Help people quit tobacco use; and
Implement strategies under the WHO FCTC (World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control).
NTCP was upscaled in the 12th Five-Year Plan, targeting a 5% reduction in tobacco use prevalence based on the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) 2009–10.
According to GATS-2, tobacco users in India reduced by approximately 81 lakh (8.1 million).
Major focus areas include:
Training of health and social workers, NGOs, teachers, and enforcement officers
Conducting Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) campaigns
Implementing school-level tobacco control programmes
Monitoring and enforcing COTPA, 2003
Coordination with Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) for village-level outreach
Setting up Tobacco Cessation Centres offering counselling and pharmacological treatment at the district level
NTCP operates through a three-tier structure:
National Tobacco Control Cell (NTCC) at the Central level
State Tobacco Control Cell (STCC) at the State level
District Tobacco Control Cell (DTCC) at the District level
NTCP ensures dedicated funds and manpower, with STCCs and DTCCs subsumed under the Flexi-pool for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) within the National Health Mission (NHM) since the 12th Plan.
As of now, NTCP is being implemented in all 36 States and Union Territories, covering around 612 districts across India.
Bloomberg Philanthropies Awards:
India is among the six countries that received the 2025 Bloomberg Philanthropies Awards for Global Tobacco Control for prioritizing tobacco cessation approaches to reach a significant number of tobacco users in the country.
Among the other countries that received the award were Mauritius, Mexico, Montenegro, the Philippines, and Ukraine.
India was presented the ‘O’ category award for promoting tobacco cessation. The ‘O’ is the MPOWER policy package of the World Health Organisation (WHO) that stands for ‘Offer help to quit tobacco use.’
The awards celebrated several governments and NGOs making progress to reduce tobacco use.
The WHO Global Tobacco Epidemic 2025 report, developed with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, was also launched on the occasion.