India moots 'sin tax' on tobacco

India has mooted the introduction of a designated "sin tax" to finance a part of the health budget during the 12th five year plan (2012-2017).

The 12th plan document, to be submitted to the National Development Council (NDC) presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, says "a sin tax can lead to reduced consumption of harmful items such as tobacco and alcohol and could be considered".

The move is part of the health ministry's larger plan to combat non-communicable diseases like cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers and chronic respiratory diseases which are emerging as major killers.

The document for NDC says a package of policy interventions would be taken up which includes raising taxes on tobacco, enforcing ban on tobacco advertising in electronic media, counselling for quitting tobacco, early detection and effective control of high blood pressure  and diabetes, screening for common and treatable cancers and salt reduction in processed foods.

Around 275 million Indians consume tobacco which has 3,095 chemical components of which 28 are proven carcinogens that can cause cancer. Around 2,500 people die every day due to tobacco related diseases in India.

Source: Times of India

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The Rajani Effect!

That popular Tamil actor Rajinikanth has an unparalleled influence on his fans is no news. Every word that he utters both on-screen and off screen is widely followed and even adhered to by his fans who run into several lakhs. 

A recent instance of Rajinikanth asking his fans to quit smoking has met brought a favourable response from his fans. 

In response to his call, fans have vowed to stop smoking. Fans across Tamil Nadu burnt cigarette cartons. A Rajini fan speaking to a news website is quoted to have said, "Our Thalaivar’s word is sacrosanct for us. We will do anything for him. From now on, we will never touch a cigarette in our life.” 

In his birthday message, the actor had urged fans not to learn from him and give up the habit completely. Admitting his inability of stop smoking completely, he said that his illness involving the kidneys was as a result of the habit.

Tobacco, which is fast turning to a public health menace, needs more such celebrity icons!


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Supreme Court issues notice to Centre on gutkha ban

The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Union of India on an application from the Centre for Public Interest Litigation alleging that though 14 States had banned gutkha, the ban was not being effectively implemented.

A Bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and S.J. Mukhopadaya issued notice; seeking the government's reply on the plea by the NGO.

Appearing for the NGO, counsel Prashant Bhushan said that only gutkha (mixture of pan masala and tobacco) was banned by 14 States. Neither pure tobacco nor pan masala (without tobacco) was banned and as a result manufacture was still going on.

The application said the court imposed a complete prohibition on the use of plastic material for packing of tobacco products, gutkha and pan masala.

“If gutkha and chewing tobacco is banned, leaving pan masala alone, then the implementation of such a ban is rendered impossible as manufacturers will pass on their tobacco-laden pan masala as ‘sada’ pan masala or tobacco-free pan masala. Pan masala consumption too is linked to high rates of oral cancer,” Shri Bhushan noted.

The counsel alleged that the order passed by the apex court on December 7, 2010 for prohibition of such products were “wilfully and brazenly” violated by some manufacturers who sold them under other “misleading” nomenclature and some others dumped their products under the “for export” tag. 

The application said that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, a statutory body set-up under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 had on August 5 last year banned gutka and other chewing tobacco products. 

It sought direction from the bench that disobeying their order would make the manufacturer liable under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, Food Safety And Standards Act, 2006, and for contempt of court.

Source: The Hindu and Deccan Herald

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Kerala CM puts foot down on tobacco industry

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy Thursday informed the state assembly that, barring the tobacco industry, his government has taken steps to support the coir, handloom, cashew and other traditional sectors of industry.

"Barring the beedi (tobacco) sector, my government has done a lot for all other traditional industries. Since we have taken an anti-smoking stand, the employment in that sector is dwindling," said Chandy in response to an adjournment motion moved by the Left opposition.

Ever since Chandy assumed office, he has maintained a strong stance against tobacco and went on to the extent of banning gutka (a tobacco-laced chewing mix) in the state a few months back.

Earlier this month, Chandy wrote to the prime minister for a nationwide ban on tobacco.

The sale of tobacco has dropped from Rs 1.30 crore annually to a few thousands only in the state over the last one decade. 

Source: SMETimes

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Tobacco keeps the death clock ticking

As this post is begun, 63,371,796 human lives have been lost due to tobacco-related diseases since the opening of the first FCTC working group on 28 October 1999, as the Death Clock on the website of FCTC reveals.

It is heart-wrenching to see the clock adding to the death tally in quick succession. Every few seconds, the tally on the clock is revised, showing that someone somewhere in the world has lost his or her life due to this addictive substance called tobacco.

Each death ruins years of productive capability, hope and aspirations and snatches away precious moments from near and dear ones. The pain is all the more compounded when the cause of the death is man-made affliction.

While keep the death clock from ticking completely may be a tall order, yet collective efforts can definitely bring down the updates to the tally.

To view the death clock, click here

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Country-wide gutkha ban: Tobacco Free Kerala welcomes Kerala CM's letter to PM

Tobacco Free Kerala, a coalition of like-minded organisations for tobacco control, welcomes the Kerala Chief Minister’s intervention of writing to the Prime Minister for a country-wide gutkha ban.

Shri Oommen Chandy has requested the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh “ban gutkha products containing tobacco and nicotine in all states of the country. By doing so, India will not only be able to save millions of children and youth - our productive resources of the future  - but also send a clear signal of our commitment to public health.”  

This move is especially commendable for Kerala, which in spite of a total ban, has had to confront problems of smuggled-in tobacco products from neighbouring states that have not banned these products. 

Dr Paul Sebastian, Vice Chairman, Tobacco Free Kerala, welcoming the Kerala Chief Minister’s whole-hearted efforts for tobacco control in the state said, “Kerala is really fortunate to have a leader like Shri Oommen Chandy who is fully awake to the issues confronting the health of our people, especially the menace caused by tobacco use.”

“Every day I come across scores of patients who are afflicted with various types of cancers due to tobacco use. It pains me much to see young people suffer so. The silver lining for us is the high level of consciousness of our Chief Minister and Health Minister Shri V S Sivakumar; with their support we are sure of bringing about a positive change in tobacco-induced morbidity and mortality,” Dr Sebastian, who is also the Director of Regional Cancer Centre here, added. 

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E Chandrasekharan Nair shows the way!

Where there's a will, there's a way, goes a time-honoured adage. With determination, it is possible to find a recourse for the most difficult of situations, including the addictive tobacco smoking, which to many users seems impossible to give up. 

Tobacco users who are on the lookout for a role model can find a worthy example in Shri E.Chandrasekharan Nair, former Kerala Minister for Food, Tourism and Law. This veteran politician completely quit smoking in 1987, and continues to be a non-user even after three decades now.

He reflects, “I have been through the harsh effects of smoking. The principal reason behind my heart attack was chain smoking. I suffered a heart attack while travelling from Delhi to Trivandrum by air. My doctors convinced me that smoking brought me this hardship, and then I quit smoking.”

Reacting to recent reports that pictorial warnings in packets of tobacco products in India do not comply with international guidelines, Shri Nair said, "Cigarette manufacturers in India are not completely complying with the international guidelines on health warnings, this is intentional. Concerned authorities have to ensure that these guidelines are compulsorily met.”

A report called ‘Cigarette Package Health Warnings: International Status Report’ released in the Conference of Parties to the WHO Framework Convention of Tobacco Control (FCTC) that concluded in Seoul, South Korea on November 17, shows that health warnings in cigarette packets in India only cover 40% of the front face of the packet. This is despite two rounds of revisions of warnings, in 2009 and 2011.

Article 11 of World Health Organisation’s FCTC, which India ratified in 2004, requires that health warnings “should be 50% or more of the principal display areas but shall be no less than 30% of the display areas” – the principal display areas being front and back of the package. 

Image courtesy: The Hindu

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