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| World community urges India to increase pictorial warning percentage on tobacco products | | | Jehangir Rashid
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Apr 19: Urging the authorities in India to implement the new pictorial warnings on all tobacco products, the Canadian Cancer Society and the Heart and Stroke Foundation have urged India to implement planned pictorial tobacco health warnings covering 85 percent of the front and back of tobacco packages.
"The tobacco industry in India has been lobbying your government in opposition to these new, larger warnings. We strongly urge you to resist this lobbying. We respectfully urge you and your government to implement the 85 percent pictorial health warnings as soon as possible. Doing so would reduce tobacco-caused disease and deaths in India, and would provide an example to nations worldwide," wrote Pamela C Fralick President and CEO Canadian Cancer Society and David Sculthorpe Chief Executive Officer Heart and Stroke Foundation in letter to Prime Minister Narinder Modi following his visit to Canada.
Notably, India is ranked a low 136 among countries and territories worldwide in terms of package warning size. This ranking is documented in the September 2014 Canadian Cancer Society report Cigarette Package Health Warnings: International Status Report Implementation of an 85 percent size for tobacco package warnings however, would place India in a position of international leadership.
India's earlier decision to implement 85 percent pictorial health warnings on tobacco products by April 1, 2015 was lauded by the global tobacco control community. Now, petitions from across the world are urging the Indian Government to stand by that decision.
"India's intended new tobacco package health warnings are a crucial measure that will save lives. It is clearly established that large, well-designed pictorial health warnings are an effective measure to increase awareness of the adverse health effects of tobacco, and to decrease tobacco consumption. Pictorial warnings are especially important for people who are illiterate," the letter said.
The tobacco industry in India has been lobbying your government in opposition to these new, larger warnings. We strongly urge you to resist this lobbying. The tobacco industry in India is using the same lobbying tactics and the same misinformation about job loss that the tobacco industry previously used in Canada, mentioned the letter.
Interestingly, Canada was the first country in the world to implement pictorial warnings in 2001. In 2012, Canada increased the size of package health warnings from 50 percent to 75 percent. On both of these occasions in Canada, the tobacco industry was strongly opposed to new warnings, but public health prevailed. Today, at least 77 countries and territories worldwide have implemented pictorial health warnings. Importantly, Thailand has already implemented an 85 percent warning size, Australia 82.5 percent and Uruguay 80 percent. More recently, several countries in South Asia have adopted requirements for an increased warning size for later in 2015: Nepal 90 percent, Pakistan 85 percent and Sri Lanka have increased the warning size to 80 percent. |
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