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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Gory pics on tobacco packs from Dec 1 by Kounteya Sinha

Gory pics on tobacco packs from Dec 1 by Kounteya Sinha

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published Published on May 29, 2011   modified Modified on May 29, 2011
Finally, gory pictorial warnings like that of rotting mouths, hanging gums and infected lungs, will appear on cigarette, bidi, cigar and smokeless or chewing tobacco packets from December 1.

The Union health ministry issued the notification on Saturday after years of buckling to resistance from the all-powerful tobacco lobby. The latest notification contains a set of four pictures each of lung and oral cancer.

The warnings, which will be rotated every two years, are aimed at discouraging people from consuming tobacco. Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad gave his nod to the new pictorial warnings on Friday night.

India, where 2,500 people die daily due to tobacco use, had put off the introduction of gory pictorial warnings several times before. Even Pakistan has made it mandatory that 40% of all tobacco packs must carry the image of a rotting mouth suffering from cancer along with a health warning on both sides. While 30% of the tobacco packs show a patient stricken with oral cancer, 10% carry the warning text.

A similar stipulation will be applicable for India as well.

Presently, nine lakh people die in India annually due to tobacco-related diseases. At a conservative estimate, about 250 million people across the country use tobacco products like gutkha, cigarettes and bidis.

Over 16% are cigarette smokers, while 44% smoke bidis. The ministry says 40% of health problems stems from tobacco use. Tobacco will be responsible for 13% of all deaths in India. Studies suggest that more than 38.4million bidi and 13.2million cigarette smokers may die prematurely because of their addiction. Only 2% of Indian smokers quit successfully.

Gory pictorial warnings are used in several countries, including Australia, Belgium, Chile and Hong Kong. Brazil changes the pictures every five months.

India first introduced pictorial health warnings on tobacco products on May 31, 2009. However, the warnings — ineffective in both form and content — had little impact on consumers.

"As there is high prevalence of smokeless tobacco use in the country and the consumption is more among the lower socio-economic class with low levels of literacy, it is hoped that strong pictorial warnings will definitely dissuade tobacco users from consuming tobacco products," Azad said.

WHO says that even among people who believe tobacco is harmful; few understand its specific health risks. Despite this, health warnings on tobacco packages in most countries do not provide information to warn consumers of the risks.

WHO says, effective health warnings, especially those that include pictures, have been proven to motivate users to quit and to reduce the appeal of tobacco for those who are not yet addicted. Studies carried out after the implementation of pictorial package warnings (using both pictures and text) in Brazil, Canada, Singapore and Thailand reveal remarkably consistent findings on the positive impact of the warnings.

"Health warnings on tobacco packages are a simple, cheap and effective strategy that can vastly reduce tobacco use and save lives," said WHO assistant director-general Dr Ala Alwan.

Alwan added, "But they only work if they communicate the risk. Warnings that include images of the harm that tobacco causes are particularly effective at communicating risk and motivating behavioural changes, such as quitting or reducing tobacco consumption."

Yet, only 10% of the people in the world live in countries that require warnings with pictures on tobacco packages. Experts say, health warnings on tobacco packs can be a powerful tool to illuminate the stark reality of tobacco use.

The Times of India, 29 May, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gory-pics-on-tobacco-packs-from-Dec-1/articleshow/8631187.cms


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