Kishanganj, Aug. 12 (PTI): Senior BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha today sought a ban on consumption of tobacco products, along with the prohibition on liquor, to protect people from diseases like cancer, which a study says would be the greatest killer in the world by 2020.

Sinha was speaking after laying the foundation of a cancer awareness, testing and advisory centre at Kishanganj.

Congress MLA Shakeel Ahmad Khan and Independent MLC Devesh Chand Thakur and cancer surgeon J.K. Singh were present at the Grameen Sneh Foundation programme.

"Liquor ban in Bihar is highly appreciated. But, if prohibition is extended to tobacco items it would have far more effective impact on human health by preventing diseases like cancer," Sinha said. The BJP's Lok Sabha MP from Patna Sahib, who served as Union health minister in the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, highlighted the ill effects of consumption of tobacco items like cigarette, khaini and gutkha.

A study suggests that cancer would be the biggest killer of human beings by 2020, he said. Oral cancer is widely prevalent in India, particularly in states like Bihar. Sinha said he would work to open a cancer centre by the foundation near Bakhtiyarpur and Daniyawa in his constituency.