Tobacco.org

EDITORIAL: Kicking the habit 

The government's move to make it mandatory for all packets of tobacco products to carry pictorial warnings on the health hazards of tobacco consumption is well intended, but it is doubtful whether this will have the desired impact. Under the new order, all packs of tobacco products like cigarettes, bidis and gutka, will now have to carry images of diseased human lungs along with blunter statutory warnings like 'Tobacco kills' and 'Tobacco causes cancer'. The objective, apparently, is to convey the harmful effects of tobacco consumption to those who cannot read. But whether this message is sufficient to deter a person from smoking or chewing tobacco is debatable, considering that the written warning that 'smoking is injurious to health' has failed to check the consumption of tobacco among literates. Besides, it is uncertain whether unlettered smokers, many of whom may not be familiar with the human anatomy, would be able to decipher the picture to be that of an ailing lung or heart, and relate it tobacco consumption.

The problem is more complex in India than elsewhere in the world because of the varied forms and modes of tobacco use. . . .

Unlike countries where tobacco consumption is either leveling off or even decreasing, tobacco use is on the rise in India. Yet it is also true that India, despite being a major tobacco producer and exporter, played a significant role in the development of the framework convention on tobacco control (FCTC) . . .

A more comprehensive action plan for tobacco control would involve simultaneous action on several fronts, such as hikes in the taxes on all tobacco products, disincentives for the production of tobacco and its products, incentives to farmers to switch to alternative crops, and consumer education campaigns.

Jump to full article »