Jammu and Kashmir has achieved a significant public health milestone, with smoking prevalence among men declining to 30.1 percent, below the national average of 36.3 percent for the first time since the National Family Health Survey began tracking the indicator. For a place that once sat among India's highest tobacco-consuming regions, this is a hard-won victory.

The numbers tell a story of sustained change over two decades. Since NFHS-3 in 2005-06, male smoking prevalence in J&K has dropped by 43 percent, from........

© Greater Kashmir