Tobacco shops can't sell soft drink, snacks

Sale of soft drinks, chips, toffees and other eatables at tobacco and cigarette shops will be banned in Lucknow city.

The Lucknow Municipal Corporation has prepared a team in each zone to crack down on tobacco shops selling eatables and soft drinks. The decision came following the guidelines of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 (COTPA), which restricts selling of eatables at tobacco shops.

The municipal commissioner has issued orders to all eight zonal officials to survey all markets and residential areas in their zones and crack down on tobacco shops selling toffees and other eatables. The commissioner has written to the district administration to provide support to the drive.

A joint team of five departments-LMC, police, CMO, Food Safety and Drug Administration, state government and district administration-will raid these shops. While police have authority to impose a penalty of Rs 500-5,000 on tobacco shop owners selling eatables, FSDA department can even cancel licences of permanent shops.

LMC has the responsibility to remove shops running illegally on roadsides.

LMC's environment engineer Pankaj Bhushan said, "The drive is to prevent children from accessing tobacco shops. It is observed that while reaching out to these shops to buy chips, toffees and cold drinks, children also get access to tobacco products. To stop this and create awareness, LMC has launched the drive to remove eatables from these shops."

Courtesy:Times of India

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Clinical psychologists call for creating a brand of tobacco free educational institutions in Kerala

Clinical psychologists of Kerala attached to the Indian Association of Clinical Psychologists (IACP) have called upon the Government to make tobacco free educational institutions a brand in the state. Parents should be able to send children to educational institutions without any apprehension of their falling for dangerous tobacco use at a tender age, they aver.

In the wake of the recent Global Burden of Disease Study that said smoking killed 7.1 million in 2016, the 600-member-strong IACP-Kerala feels that the state can be a worthy example to the rest of the world by creating a brand of tobacco free educational institutions. It has called for a combination of measures including enforcement and stakeholder involvement to achieve this public health-friendly goal.

Dr Sany Varghese, President of the Association said, “In our day-to-day clinical practice, we are witness to unfortunate cases of children going astray following addiction to tobacco use. Criminal tendencies and even suicidal tendencies are reported in some students.”

Licenses of shops selling tobacco products near educational institutions should be cancelled to cut out supply of these products, Dr Sany pointed out.

Association Secretary Dr Gitanjali Natarajan said, “Youngsters have told us how they sneak in tobacco products to schools without the knowledge of their parents and teachers. What initially starts as an entertaining pastime, many a times ends up in loss of youthful years to disease.”

Dr S.Satheesh Nair, Former President of IACP Kerala and President of Government Clinical Psychologists Association noted, “Parents should inculcate a culture of asking children how they spend their pocket money. Tobacco free educational institutions are a must if the future of our state and country has to be rid from the life-long burden of tobacco-induced maladies.”

The President also extended a helping hand to educational institutions that need counselling support to wean off youngsters hooked on to tobacco use.   

Photo Courtesy: Asianetnews

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PMO backs Health Ministry on larger pictorial warnings on tobacco packs

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has backed the Health Ministry's decision to increase the size of pictorial warnings on packets of tobacco products from the current 40% to 85%.

The Health Ministry refused to roll back its decision despite mounting pressures from the tobacco product manufacturers in India.

Following the implementation of the new guidelines from April 1, many major manufacturers across the country decided to halt production, citing ambiguity on the graphic health warning on tobacco product packs.

It is said that the new policy has resulted in a daily loss of Rs 350 crore in production turnover for the tobacco industry.

However, senior officials in the health ministry maintained it is "firm on anti-tobacco stand" as it is a matter of public interest.

“We want to clarify that there is no ambiguity. This Cis a bogey raised by the tobacco industry. The case is crystal clear. We had issued the notification in September last year. If they had found an ambiguity, why did they send their letter in March, 2016,” a senior ministry official said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has also backed the health Ministry's proposal to increase size of health warnings on tobacco packs.

A recent WHO report pointed out that smoking and tobacco-related diseases brought on a Rs. 1.04-trillion economic burden to the Indian economy.

The move has been welcomed by various health experts, citing that the health ministry could not take a better step than this to curb the tobacco-related deaths in the country, which currently stand at over 10 lakh.

Source: Zee News

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85 pc tobacco warning: No ambiguity in policy, says govt

Slamming the decision of tobacco manufacturers to halt production, the Centre today hardened its stand on the implementation of larger pictorial warnings on such products, saying it will take all the necessary steps to curb tobacco use in the country.

The Union Health Ministry said there is "no ambiguity" in the policy in this regard and it has been made "crystal clear" that products packaged after April 1 will have to carry larger warnings.

"We want to clarify that there is no ambiguity. This is a bogey raised by the tobacco industry. The case is crystal clear. We had issued the notification in September last year. If they had found an ambiguity, why did they send their letter in March, 2016," a senior ministry official said.

"They could have done it earlier. Our stand is very clear. Whatever needs to be done to curb tobacco consumption, will be done. We have clarified that products manufactured after April 1 will have to carry larger pictorial warnings covering 85 percent of the display area," the official added.

The comments come a day after major cigarette manufacturers, including ITC, Godfrey Phillips and VST, decided to shut all their factories and stop production citing an "ambiguity" in the policy mandating larger pictorial warnings covering 85 per cent of the packaging space.

The ministry's September 24, 2015, notification for the implementation of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Amendment Rules, 2014, which prescribes larger pictorial warnings on tobacco products came into force yesterday.

Sources said the ministry implemented the decision after the Rajasthan High Court directed it to do so. They added that the tobacco manufacturers "should go to the court if they have an issue with the government's notification".

Notwithstanding a parliamentary panel's recommendation for a drastic reduction in the size after it described the proposal for 85 per cent pictorial warning as being "too harsh", the Centre has gone ahead with its implementation. 

Source: Times of India

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Lawyers insists on pictorial warnings on tobacco products

There is a groundswell of public opinion in favour of pictorial warning covering 85% of the packaging of cigarettes, bidis, chewable tobacco, etc. "We, the Lawyers-Against-Tobacco, urge you to show your golden heart and love for the nation by implementing 85% pictorial warning from 1st April 2016," says a letter written two days ago by Bar Association of Allahabad High Court to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"We felt very proud when your Government issued a notification 2 years back to make large pictorial warnings mandatory on every tobacco product. It was the need of the hour in a country where tobacco consumption starts at tender age of 10-12 years. Needless to say that effective pictorial warning will also deter uneducated people from picking up this habit..." says the letter, signed by Advocates Radha Kand Ojha and Ashok Kumar Singh, President and Hon. Secretary of the Bar Association, adding, "Considering the growing menace of tobacco which may ultimately affect our own kids, we have formed a coalition called Lawyers Against Tobacco."

The back story of this debate makes the blood boil with indignation. It is estimated that over 10 lakh Indians die of tobacco-related ailments every year, and the total health expenditure burden of tobacco use exceeds one lakh crore rupees, i.e. 12 per cent more than combined State and Central government expenditure on health (2011-12 statistics). The government's excise duty earning from tobacco barely covers a piffling 17 per cent of the health expenditure! But, ingoring this, the 15-member Parliamentary Committee on Subordinate Legislation, that included the bidi baron Shyama Charan Gupta, evidently feels that the tobacco industry deserves our sympathy and consideration. Just like last year, the introduction of pictorial warnings covering 85 per cent of the principal display area on both sides of all tobacco products hit a roadblock with the committee taking the position that increasing the size of the warning from the current 40 per cent on only one side of the packet to 85 per cent on both sides would be "too harsh" on the tobacco industry. It recommended a marginal increase to just 50 per cent.

Despite the overwhelming percentage of people consuming bidis and chewing tobacco, the committee is intent on diluting the warning on these products by restricting the warning to just one side of the bidi pack; only cigarettes will have the warning on both sides of the packet.

In a weak attempt to paint pictorial warnings as ineffectual, the committee has leaned heavily on the findings of a British American Tobacco company-sponsored study while overlooking a body of evidence gathered by independent researchers, which indicate that thanks to larger, graphic warnings, 58 per cent of smokers in Canada and nearly 54 per cent in Brazil and Thailand changed their opinion about the health consequences of smoking on seeing the warnings.

Source: Times of India

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Docs urge PM for new pictorial warnings on tobacco products

As many as 653 doctors and office-bearers of medical societies across the country have urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to implement the new set of pictorial warning on tobacco product packages from April 1, to save millions of lives.

Doctors, cutting across specialties, in a letter, requested the Prime Minister to step in to prevent "powerful tobacco lobby" from subverting the anti-tobacco measures of the government.

"The country is 136th in the qualitative ranking of the pictorial warning on tobacco products. Large pictorial warning on tobacco packets is the most cost effective strategy to prevent youngsters from initiating use and provokes current users to quit the habit.

"We the doctors of India urge you to reject the recommendations of Committee on Subordinate Legislation (CoSL) that aims to promote tobacco industry rather than save innocent Indians from falling prey to this fatal addiction.

Effective pictorial warnings is all about awareness and it is being wrongfully equated with ban on tobacco," the letter said.

They quoted the Prime Minister's Facebook post on May 31, 2014, "Let's pledge to spread awareness on the risks of tobacco consumption & work to reduce tobacco consumption in India. Tobacco not only affects those consuming it but also people around. By saying no to tobacco, let us lay the foundation of a healthier India."

Dilip Acharya, Chairman of National Cancer Control Committee of Indian Medical Association, said, "In a country where vast majority of users are less literate, effective pictorial warning carries tremendous value.

"It is disheartening to note that the Parliamentary Committee has recommended a reduction in the size of the pictorial health warnings, especially since tobacco is linked to several debilitating and terminal diseases. Large and graphic health warnings, when repeatedly seen by children, will raise awareness about its effects," Acharya said.

Pankaj Chaturvedi, Professor and Surgeon at Tata Memorial Hospital, who has also signed the petition, said, "The FB message of Modi ji shows his personal commitment for this important public health issue. Plethora of medical evidence has proven beyond doubt that tobacco is the only consumer product that has no good use except causing disease, disability and death. We are very hopeful that he will do the best for the health of the nation."

"We now look to the Health Minister to continue his crusade against tobacco and implement the 85 per cent pictorial health warnings on both sides of tobacco packages on April 1, as planned, to save the Indian youth and children from tobacco initiation and addiction," Harit Chaturvedi Chairman, Max Institute Of Oncology and Director, Surgical Oncology at Max Healthcare.

Source: The Tribune

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COTPA (Amendment) Bill 2015: Slew of affirmative tobacco control measures

The war against tobacco has gained further vigour and momentum with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recently placing in the public domain a draft Bill that seeks to amend the provisions of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003. 

Among the changes proposed, the one that will have an immediate and lasting impact on reducing tobacco consumption is the prohibition on using a “name or brand of tobacco products for marketing, promoting or advertising other goods, services and events”.

Falling within the ambit of indirect advertising, the use of a brand name of a tobacco product to market and advertise a non-tobacco product is a clear case of brand-sharing, which the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) prohibits. 

Using the brand name of a tobacco product to market a non-tobacco product is a ploy that is routinely resorted to by companies to get round the ban on tobacco product advertising, which has been singularly responsible for the dramatic reduction in tobacco consumption in India and across the world. It is one of the changes that the government can easily implement and effectively enforce.

The draft Bill removes the ambiguity around point-of-sale display by banning the showcasing of tobacco products at the entrance to or inside a shop; it is in line with the FCTC recommendation to keep these products “out of public view”.

Displaying tobacco products prominently inside a shop is a “key means” to promote them. Besides effectively bypassing the ban on tobacco product advertising, it fuels impulse buying. While the prohibition can further reduce tobacco consumption, putting it into effect will be a major problem as tobacco products are sold predominantly at small shops. 

For the same reason, banning the sale of these products to anyone under the age of 21 can hardly be enforced. The very fact that 15- to 24-year-olds account for over 27 per cent of tobacco consumption in India clearly indicates that sale to those below 18 years, which is currently not allowed, is a reality. 

The outcome will be no different in the case of a ban on the sale of cigarettes or bidis in the loose. Since ensuring that users are forced to notice the pictorial warning and message on the packets is one of the main reasons for banning the sale of tobacco products except as a whole packet, the amendment, on paper, will have a significant impact, particularly on bidi-smokers.

Bidis constitute nearly 85 per cent of all tobacco smoked in India, involving mainly those in the lower economic stratum, on whom pictorial warnings could be expected to have the maximum impact.

Courtesy: The Hindu

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