Tobacco menace is responsible for significant mortality and morbidity worldwide. Smokeless tobacco (SLT) is consumed in more than 140 countries, thus is emerging as a global problem. Several adverse health outcomes like oropharyngeal, oesophageal, and pancreatic cancers; oral potentially malignant lesions; diabetes mellitus; cardiovascular diseases; mental illness; osteopenia; low birth weight; preterm births; small for gestation age babies; and stillbirths are attributed to SLT usage. Smokeless tobacco products vary greatly in types, constituents, packaging, forms, addiction, and harm potential, and thus are challenging to study and control. Involvement of both formal and informal sector in SLT production and sales further add to the complexities. The problem of SLT is usually understated and less researched upon. This paper summarizes the existing knowledge and provides evidence to strengthen the case against the SLT, stressing on the need to enhance the SLT control across the globe.

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COVID-19 presence worldwide has brought substantial changes in our thinking process. The conventional biological specimen in disease due to viral aetiology ranges from blood to cerebrospinal fluid, Broncho-alveolar lavage. Through, established means of specimen have high sensitivity, other options like using Saliva specimen for testing in a developing country like India may be cost effective. The COVID-19 pandemic is still an evolving condition and best way to mitigate the infection is to increase in testing per day with isolation of the diseased individuals. Hence, Saliva could serve as a potential specimen for COVID-19 testing moreover available literature from other countries is offering promising results.