Besides Australia, France, UK. Norway, Ireland, New Zealand and Hungary have introduced plain packaging of tobacco products. Plain packaging was will be introduced in Uruguay and Slovenia in 2019 and 2020 respectively, and is under process or being considered in 14 more countries. With the WTO clearing the last hurdle by favouring plain packaging, India should … Continue reading India should soon introduce plain packaging
Pictorial warning
Get ready for plain packaging of tobacco products
Following Australia’s example, for this year's World No Tobacco Day on May 31 the World Health Organisation is calling on countries to “get ready for plain packaging of tobacco products”. Plain packaging refers to “measures to restrict or prohibit the use of logos, colours, brand images or promotional information on packaging other than brand names … Continue reading Get ready for plain packaging of tobacco products
Let larger pictorial warnings stay
Nearly one million tobacco-related deaths take place in India every year, and in 2011, the total health expenditure burden from all diseases due to tobacco use amounted to more than Rs.1,00,000 crore, which is 12 per cent more than the combined State and Central government expenditure on health in 2011-12. The revenue earned through tobacco … Continue reading Let larger pictorial warnings stay
Parliamentary committee recommends smaller pictorial warnings
Health Ministry's plan to introduce pictorial warnings covering 85 per cent of the display area on the front and back sides of tobacco products from April 1, 2016 has hit a major roadblock. - Photo: R. Prasad Two weeks before pictorial warnings covering 85 per cent of the principal display area of the front and … Continue reading Parliamentary committee recommends smaller pictorial warnings
Sounding the smoke alarm on sale of tobacco to minors
Thanks to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, tobacco companies in India may find it hard to lure children below the age of 18 into the tobacco habit. According to the Act, anyone who sells these products to underage children will face rigorous imprisonment up to seven years and a fine … Continue reading Sounding the smoke alarm on sale of tobacco to minors
Editorial: This tobacco warning should stay
Following a controversy sparked recently over remarks by some Members of Parliament on tobacco use, a group of leading film-makers is seeking to dilute the strong tobacco control measures undertaken by successive governments. The film-makers have made a representation to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to withdraw the stipulation that cinemas run a warning scroll … Continue reading Editorial: This tobacco warning should stay
A pictorial warning must shock
What is the connection between a scorpion, tobacco and cancer? Well, absolutely nothing. If any, it is the crab that is an international symbol of cancer. Yet, the previous government chose the scorpion as one of the pictorial warnings on tobacco products! Though the current controversy on pictorial warnings has finally boiled down to the … Continue reading A pictorial warning must shock
Editorial: Loosening tobacco’s deadly grip
A few months after steeply increasing taxes on tobacco products, the government has come up with another much-needed measure to contain tobacco consumption. Thanks to a recent amendment to the Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Rules of 2008, pictorial warnings are all set to achieve the desired results. Beginning April 1, 2015, … Continue reading Editorial: Loosening tobacco’s deadly grip
Editorial: Smoking reveals a patchy record
Even as the prevalence of daily smoking among men in India has come down from about 34 to 23 per cent between 1980 and 2012, the absolute number of smokers has risen — from about 69 million in 1980 to 98 million in 2012. In the case of women, while the prevalence has increased only … Continue reading Editorial: Smoking reveals a patchy record
Brazil: reducing tobacco use is a ‘winnable battle’
Published in the Hindu on November 8, 2012 Brazil provides an excellent example of reducing the prevalence of smoking and, in turn, saving several thousand lives by adopting and strictly enforcing several strategies aimed at making tobacco consumption less attractive. A study published in PLoS Medicine indicates that Brazil achieved a 46 per cent reduction … Continue reading Brazil: reducing tobacco use is a ‘winnable battle’
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