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Not unlike their contemporaries in other Asian cities, woman in metroes of India, including those in Mumbai run a significant risk of developing peripheral arterial disease (PAD) from secondhand smoke (SHS), an NGO Smokefree Mumbai has said in its report.
Presenting the report on Chinese women and SHS, published in the American Heart Association's Circulation (AHAC), today Smokefree Mumbai said the report found that SHS had a significant, negative impact on the health of Chinese women, who had never smoked, the risk which would, without doubt, equate to Indian women too.
The first of its kind report by the AHAC had revealed a link between exposure to SHS and an increased chance of suffering from coronary heart disease, stroke, and peripheral arterial disease (PAD). . . .
''While 97 per cent Mumbaites have voted in favour of smoke-free environment, the ramification of the ban on smoking in public on the women population, largely non-smokers, may be found as reason for contemplation,'' observed the report.
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Ramadoss, the former Union minister of health and family welfare, tried to help Indians kick the butt through stringent controls on tobacco sales and advertisements. But strangely, after the ban on public smoking in October last year and the much-touted pictorial warnings on cigarette packs from May 31 this year, Indians seem to be smoking more!
Most of the major tobacco companies posted continuous sales growth during the past two quarters, April-June and July-September 2009. The largest domestic tobacco company, ITC, with cigarette brands such as India Kings, Classic, Gold Flake, Navy Cut, Bristol, Scissors, Capstan and Flake, registered sales growth of over 20% in the tobacco business in both the quarters ending June and September this year.
During the first quarter of FY10, in terms of sales, the tobacco business grew by 23%, whereas, during the second quarter of FY10, the cigarette business went up by 21% to Rs 2199.69 cr compared to a year ago.
One of the major reasons for the continued growth in cigarette consumption is that the pictorial warnings on tobacco products are ineffective, according to a recent study by Mumbai-based health research organisation Healis.
Pictorial warnings on cigarette packets recently introduced by the government are about to be phased out, reports say. It is its a clear attempt to safe guard the interest of the people involved in the tobacco industry and to keep the governmen'ts crucial vote bank intact.
Initially, there were some gruesome pictures that depicted the worse possible effects of tobacco on the human body. These pictures were first notified by the Health Ministry in July 2006 as pictorial warnings for cigarette and gutka packets. But these pictures were shot down by the Group of Ministers (GoM) as 'objectionable'.
Former Union Labour Minister, Oscar Fernandes said, "If we're talking about making the pictures harsher, we may as well shut down the industry. There are several districts in West Bengal where poor bidi workers earn their livelihood from this."
In a meeting of the GoM chaired by Pranab Mukherjee in July 2007, it was decided that the picture of the dead body be replaced with a 'suitable' one.
The minutes of the meeting available with CNN-IBN show that in the GoM, Pranab Mukharjee said, "A number of representations have been received from the bidi industry that employs a large number of workers from the weaker sections of society. The basic issues raised by the bidi industry relate to the size, colour and obnoxious nature of the pictorial warnings. Keeping this is view, the pictorial warnings may be modified."
The GOM also asked the Health Ministry to consult the Ministry of Law and remove the 'skull and cross bone' as a warning sign.
Over 60 percent of bars-cum-restaurants across the country have been found to be openly flouting the ban on smoking in public places, a year after the law was implemented, says a study.
The Air Quality Monitoring (AQM) study conducted by an NGO, Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI), along with 11 partner organisations revealed that out of the 211 restaurants surveyed across 16 cities, 127 flouted the no-smoking ban.
Binoy Matthew of VHAI said: "We found that fine particle air pollution is 32 times higher than the WHO recommended guidelines for air quality in non-compliant bars-cum-restaurants."
"Consequently, employees and customers in those places are at increased risk of adverse health effects, especially heart attacks, lung cancer and serious respiratory illnesses," he added.
In Delhi, of the 12 restaurants and bars visited, five were found to be flouting the law by allowing smoking without following the Designated Smoking Room (DSR) norms.
The most-backward district of Gadchiroli is set to hit headlines, and not for something nice. The district, known as a Naxalite hotspot, has gained another dubious distinction: its people consume tobacco products worth Rs 73 crore each year. Interestingly, the amount is at least 50% more than funds spent on development, health and employment scheme put together in the district.
A study conducted by Dr Abhay and Rani Bang's Society for Education, Action and Research in Community Health (SEARCH) found that almost half of the district's citizens were addicted to tobacco. The team led by Santosh Sawalkar, and including Prabhakar Kelzarkar, Kishor Pendam and male Arogyadoots (health workers) conducted a survey in 24 randomly selected villages in four talukas of Gadchiroli, with 16,780 people being interviewed. The subjects included tribal, non-tribal as well as people in urban area. The data was analysed by researcher Mahesh Deshmukh and psychiatrist Dr Dharav Shah.
It revealed that of the 16,780 people interviewed, 8462 people were tobacco addicts. This led to projection that of the estimated 10,93,016 citizens of the district, 5,72,419 residents consumed tobacco products. More disconcerting is the fact that the average age of beginning consumption, that earlier was 30-35 years is now as low as 10 years. The survey gives many alarming indications, with 51% of rural population consuming tobacco, 59% in tribal areas, and 26% in the urban areas. . . .
Dr. Abhay and Rani Bang said, "Taking into consideration the magnitude of the problem, we need to act, and quickly. The government cannot now turn a blind eye to the problem simply because it gains revenue from tobacco sale. It must realize that it has to spend much more on health and awareness schemes against tobacco. What is more important is that the children and youth going to schools and colleges should at least be made aware of the facts surrounding tobacco consumption.
A day before the first anniversary of the ban on smoking in public places, a restaurant manager from Panvel in Navi Mumbai, was killed following a brawl with customers who did not want to comply with the ban.
Forty-five-year-old Mehboob Deshmukh was beaten to death by customers at Himalay Punjab Beer Bar and Restaurant on Wednesday night because they wanted to smoke but waiters would not let them.
Mumbai has registered 60 per cent compliance with the ban since it was imposed on October 2, 2008. Of the 22,275 persons fined across the country for violating the ban, 3,690 were from Maharashtra.
On a day when a Mumbai restaurant manager was done to death after he tried to stop drunk customers from smoking inside his establishment, the government said it would rope in bus conductors, railway ticket checkers and health officials to bolster a faltering anti-smoking drive.
Violate the ban on smoking in public places and you will pay Rs 200, according to a health ministry notification. The amount remains the same as the existing fine, just that more people have been empowered not just to stop smokers, but also to fine them.
Simply put, education inspectors, government counsels in courts, panchayati raj officials in villages, policemen above the rank of sub inspector and even bus conductors can fine you.
Since the ban on smoking in public places was imposed on October 2 last year, only 22,275 smokers have been fined: India has an estimated 194 million smokers.
India's ban on smoking in public places is yet to take off nationally. Imposed on October 2 last year, only 13 states have started an all out campaign to punish those found smoking in public.
Delhi leads the list of best performing states having challaned 11,362 people and having collected Rs 10.7 lakh in fines. Tamil Nadu fined 10,979 people found smoking in public places and collected Rs 12.63 lakh. In Gujarat, challaning was started from November across all districts. Till now, the state has collected Rs 84,090 in fines.
Failure of the social networking website "Facebook" to remove pages and groups relating to various tobacco products, brands and articles is now likely to land the company in legal trouble.
Well-known social activist and crusader for public health causes, Hemant Goswami, has issued a legal notice to Facebook to remove all pages and groups relating to promotion of any kind of tobacco product or which promotes its consumption. Hemant who is also a notified member of the "National Steering Committee on Tobacco Control" formed by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said, "Apparently Facebook claims to have a policy of not advertising tobacco products through paid advertisement on its website; however this claim remains ineffective as it allows all brands and tobacco products to be promoted through member pages and groups. Not only this; contrary to the claims, Facebook allows promotion of smoking culture through advertisements. We have sent a copy of links of such examples which are considered an offence under the Indian law to M/s Facebook."
In the notice, served to Facebook Inc. and Facebook Ireland Limited, faxed to its California office (+1- 6505434801), Hemant has alleged that, "many pages on www.facebook.com promote various cigarette brands and the concept of smoking. All such pages are visible on all computers, and all terminals installed in India through which the site Facebook.com is accessed. Such pages are also advertised through Facebook and are displayed on the pages of facebook users." The notice warns the owners and managers of Facebook of their legal liabilities and reads, "The advertisers M/s Facebook and owners of the company are also equally liable and responsible for any such advertisements."
The Indian law on tobacco control, "Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003" provides for imprisonment up to five years for violating the provisions relating to prohibition of promotion or advertisement of tobacco products and brands.
Bipasha Basu is a health freak and is known to never smoke or drink, which explains her bootylicious body.
Now, she has refused to smoke a cigarette or even hold it for a scene in her forthcoming film, Pankh.
Our source said, “Sudipto Chattopadhyay, the director of the film, wanted Bipasha to smoke on screen for a vital sequence. However, Bipasha flatly refused as she does not encourage smoking and hates it. She was not in favour of the scene and if she smokes, it meant that she would be promoting smoking. After that, Sudipto even gave her the option of holding a cigarette, but she refused that as well. Sudipto understood her point of view and agreed to shoot the scene differently.”
Bipasha Basu confirms the story and maintains her anti-smoking stance.
The Academy Award winning British film Slumdog Millionaire attracted global attention for presenting a romanticised story of life in the slums of Mumbai. However, the real-life problems of street children in India are far more serious, with new surveys indicating an alarmingly high use of various tobacco products among street children.
India has over 360 million children aged under 15 years. Although there are no official data on the number of street children, conservative estimates put the figure at over 10 million, most of whom earn a living through activities like rag picking, begging, vending, shoe shining, and sometimes petty crime.
A recent, unpublished survey of marginalised children in Mumbai and two other cities in north eastern India—Guwahati and Amsong—showed that over a quarter of children aged 5—19 years consumed tobacco in various forms. The survey—funded by the International Union Against Cancer (UICC)—was done by the Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA) in Mumbai. It noted that the average age at which children started using tobacco was 11·3 years for both boys and girls. In Mumbai, the most frequently used products were raw tobacco, gutkha (a blend of tobacco and flavourings), and cigarettes. . . .
The Delhi-based group Health-Related Information Dissemination Amongst Youth (HRIDAY) has noted that interventions through schools result in positive changes in behaviour and help prevent tobacco use. Now the group is collaborating with the University of Texas in the USA to conduct a community-based randomised trial among youths in seven low income communities in Delhi to see if the same interventions work with street children. . . .
The government has taken several steps to curb tobacco use, but their impact is yet to be felt. Selling tobacco products to children younger than 18 years of age is prohibited, but retailers openly flout this regulation, and maximum fines only amount to the cost of a couple of packets of cigarettes. If this law is enforced and retailers penalised, it could cut out a major source of tobacco products to youth. Increased use of pictorial warnings and higher tax rates might also help to discourage the use of tobacco products.
Indian women are among the worst in the world when it comes to smoking. According to the latest Tobacco Atlas, the country ranks third in the top 20 female smoking populations across the globe.
Only the US with 2.3 crore female smokers and China with 1.3 crore women smokers are worse off than India in this chart. However, as far as percentage of women smoking is concerned, it is below 20% for India.
Among India's immediate neighbours, only Pakistan figures in this infamous list, but right at the bottom at 20th with around 30 lakh female smokers.
Published by the American Cancer Society and World Lung Foundation, the Atlas makes another serious observation -- female smokers in India die an average eight years earlier than their non-smoking peers.
According to the Atlas, about 250 million women in the world are daily smokers -- 22% being from high resource countries and 9% from low and middle resource countries.
Activists of Lok Adhikar Welfare Trust, a city-based NGO, today went on an indefinite hunger strike demanding closure of hookahs parlours in the city.
Talking to UNI, president of the NGO, Anil Nair said, ''We have started an indefinite hunger strike against the hookah parlours and our demand is that the government should immediately close down discos, pubs and other public places, where hookah is sold and strict action should be taken against those who violate this ban. Surprise checks should also be carried out by the police and the BMC at the public places to avoid cropping up of any such parlours in future.'' The protestors also submitted a memorandum of their demands to the District Collector.
Despite strict instructions from the Supreme Court of India to have pictorial warnings on tobacco products, a large number of gutkha and bidi companies here are not going by the rule. According to a study conducted by a voluntary organization, Aparajita Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI), it came to light that 80 per cent of the brands available in the market are not adhering to the warning guidelines.
"Many bidi, gutkha and khaini companies do not carry the customary warning. Even if they do, they are weak, ineffective and fail to perform the crucial role of informing users and saving lives. A few cigarette companies and brands are however carrying the pictorial warning," the study revealed. It's mandatory to carry the pictorial warning under the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products (Packing and Labelling) Rules, 2008, that came into effect on May 31 this year.
The study also pointed out that there's no no monitoring mechanism in Orissa. Tobacco companies are very casual in complying with the Supreme Court order.
Chungwa is just one of the few but growing numbers of restaurants and pubs in the NCR that have opened designated spaces for smokers after the ban came into effect in October, 2008. TGI Friday's in Saket and Vasant Kunj, Hard Rock Cafe in Saket, Cafe Morrison in South Extension, Tabula Rasa in Saket and Buzz in Gurgaon are some other joints that are saying, "Come on baby, light my fire.''
Some have invested anywhere between Rs 2 and 2.5 lakh in setting up a smoking lounge; Cafe Morrison, for instance, has installed a state-of-the-art smoking exhaust. Hard Rock Cafe's 100 sq ft smoking space has a window and a separate exhaust system. The puffing room at Tabula Rasa has graphic art covers on the walls and bar stools. One corner is dedicated to a cigar humidor.
Restaurants are reaping the rewards.