Jehangir Rashid
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Mar 20: Around 40,000 people across the length and breadth of the country have signed a memorandum highlighting the significance and importance of implementation of new health warnings in the country. These people have joined the campaign of Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI) seeking for the proper implementation of health warnings.
A spokesperson of VHAI said that in order to ensure strict implementation of new and larger pictorial health warnings on all tobacco products, a fresh memorandum was submitted to Union Health Minister J P Nadda. The petition is signed by around 38,740 people who strongly support the implementation of new health warnings. "The signatures were collected in an online and offline petition started by Sunita Tomar, an oral cancer survivor.
The petition is part of the Lives Bachao Size Badhao, a public awareness campaign to support the move for a larger and stronger pictorial warning on tobacco products in India," the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said that in addition to the petition, representations were also sent to the Health Minister from global public health experts, members of parliament, celebrities, journalists, women groups, youth associations, doctor organizations, hospitals, self-help groups, educational institutions, voluntary organizations, lawyers, and bidis workers associations.
"Rahul Dravid, the Indian cricketer and Ambassador for Tobacco Control has also congratulated the Health Ministry for mandating 85 percent pictorial warnings," said Dr. Monika Arora, Director, Health Promotion & Adjunct Associate Professor Public Health Foundation of India. Dr. Monika said that nearly 3,300 school students have also written to Union Health Ministry urging the introduction of 85 percent pictorial health warnings on tobacco products on April 1, 2015.
Government of India had on October 15, 2014 issued a notification giving Tobacco Industry six months to ensure that all that all tobacco packages in India have pictorial warnings covering 85 percent the surface area on both sides.
The warnings will feature pictures of tobacco-caused diseases such as mouth, lung and throat cancers. The Tobacco industry in India is once again trying to jeopardize the implementation of the new pictorial warnings and delay their coming into effect in April 1, 2015, said the spokesperson.
"It is shocking that the tobacco industry is providing misleading information to the Indian Government and pressuring it to revoke its trendsetting decision. It is disappointing to see that for their vested interests and profits, tobacco companies and trade bodies are trying to tarnish India's global image," said Bhavna Mukhopadhyay, Executive Director, VHAI.
The new warnings reaffirm Indian global leadership, projecting the country into one of the first positions for the largest tobacco health warnings in the world. Countries like Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have taken the cue from India and have dramatically increased the size of pictorial warnings on tobacco packages. "India has demonstrated global leadership with its new 85 percent pictorial health warnings.
It is essential that these warnings appear on tobacco packages as soon as possible. A picture says a thousand words. Picture warnings are especially important for those who cannot read," said Rob Cunningham-Senior Policy Analyst at the Canadian Cancer Society-author of the report Cigarette Package Health Warnings. |
