Imphal, 25 November 2017 ( Evening News ) : Tobacco use has increased in Manipur, Assam and Tripura against an overall decline in the country between 2009-2017. According to the regional report of the second round of Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) 2016-17 of North Eastern states, all the states have shown a significant decline to second-hand smoke (SHS) exposure at workplace while it has increased in Assam by 3 per cent. The report highlights that the overall tobacco use prevalence in India has declined from 34.6 per cent to 28.6 per cent between 2009-10 and 2016-17 except for Assam and Tripura where it increased considerably and marginally in Manipur. In Manipur, tobacco use increased from 54.1 to 55.1 per cent when all other states have shown a decline with Sikkim registering a remarkable fall from 41.6 to 17.9 per cent. Exposure to SHS at public places has improved across the region with a sharp decline in Manipur, Meghalaya and Nagaland though slightly above the national average. The initiation age has declined, which means more people began using tobacco at an earlier age in three states — Arunachal, Nagaland and Sikkim — from 17.5 in 2009-2010 to 15.9 in 2016-17. The initiation age has increased in the other five NE states with the most significant being Manipur from 19.1 years to 20.8 years.