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| Ban on point-of-sale tobacco advertising, smoking zones: Heath experts | | |  agencies
NEW DELHI, Jan 11: On the eve of National Youth Day, health experts and youth icons converged to stress the critical need for safeguarding India's youth from the clutches of tobacco addiction. They underscored the importance of implementing tobacco warning rules on over-the-top (OTT) platforms, akin to the regulations previously enforced for film and television.
Additionally, there were calls for the prohibition of surrogate advertisements, point-of-sale tobacco ads, and smoking zones.
Experts emphasised the critical importance of shielding the young population from the allure of tobacco during the webinar titled 'Viksit Bharat- Tambaku-mukt Bharat,' organised by 'Tobacco Free India,' a citizens' initiative, on Thursday.
International wrestler Sangram Singh, brand ambassador for the Government of India's "Fit India" programme, said more than 50 per cent of the country's population is aged under 25, while over 65 per cent are below 35 years.
"This young population is particularly vulnerable to the hazards of tobacco, making the implementation of tobacco warnings crucial," said Singh, who plans to return to professional wrestling from next month.
Epidemiologist and public health expert Dr Chandrakant Lahariya referred to findings from the GYTS-India Survey conducted by the Union Health Ministry and said, "Approximately one-fifth of individuals aged 13-15 had used some form of tobacco product, and this proportion was even higher among older age groups.
Dr Lahariya emphasised that on-screen tobacco warnings not only have a direct impact on the youth but also result in a reduction of tobacco-related scenes in the media. He also cited the Health Ministry's report on India's tobacco-free film and television policy, illustrating the positive outcomes of implementing such warnings.
He stated, "Following the implementation of these warning rules in films, the prevalence of smoking scenes in Indian cinema decreased from 89 per cent in 2005 to 48 per cent in 2015, underscoring the effectiveness of regulatory measures."
Dr Lahariya also stressed that even a 10 per cent reduction in tobacco use among these individuals through warning rules could potentially save up to 20 million lives in the long run.
Dr Alok Thakar, Head of the National Cancer Institute, Government of India, and Professor at AIIMS, Delhi, brought attention to "the alarming surge in cancer cases associated with tobacco consumption".
He noted that "in the past year, there has been a proliferation of surrogate advertisements, particularly for smokeless tobacco products".
Dr Thakar expressed his appreciation for "the government's proactive measures aimed at controlling media exposure, as they glamorise tobacco and entice young people to engage in its use." |
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