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Doctors urge PM not to reverse pictorial warning on tobacco products
Doctors and 10 medical associations on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to reverse 85% pictorial warnings on all tobacco products as directed by the Karnataka high court
Doctors and 10 medical associations on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to reverse 85% pictorial warnings on all tobacco products as directed by the Karnataka high court.
In December, the high court struck down the Cigarette and other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Amendment Rules, 2014. The rules mandated 85% pictorial warnings on both sides of packages of cigarettes, bidis and all forms of chewing tobacco products.
In a letter to Modi, 453 doctors and the medical associations said: “Your government implemented 85% pictorial warnings on tobacco products with effect from April 1, 2016 and it was a world leading step towards progressive public health. “With these warnings, India rose to third place in global ranking of the pictorial warnings on tobacco products from 136th position.”
The medical associations include Indian Dental Association, Bhopal Divisional Ophthalmic Society and Indian Dental Association Madhya Pradesh chapter.
Voice of Tobacco Victims campaign Rajasthan patron Dr Pawan Singhal said on December 15, 2017, the high court “reversed all this good work by the Modi government by quashing the large pictorial warnings, which will take India back to 146th position in the world even behind Pakistan”.
The Karnataka high court, in its judgment, said: “It is unnecessary to have pictorial and textual warnings suggestive of cancer particularly when the contents of the said warnings are not universally accepted as medically proven.”
Singhal said: “As doctors, we see these cases on daily basis, are horrified that the court has used this view to strike down such an effective rule.”
Singhal, who is also the head and neck cancer surgeon of Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur, citing the findings of Global Adult Tobacco Survey-2, 2017 said larger pictorial warnings on tobacco packets were highly effective.
The percentage of people thinking of quitting tobacco after seeing these warnings rose from 38% in GATS-1 to 62.1% for cigarettes, from 29% to 54% for bidis and 34% to 46% for chewing tobacco, he said.
“India is a country where people use several languages and dialects, pictorial warning transcends the language and in many case illiteracy barrier. These 85% graphic warnings were appreciated globally and research has also proven the success of these, too.
“India must continue with 85% pictorial warnings for a progressive public health, as our prime minister wishes a healthier nation,” he said.
The letter also mentioned that tobacco was literally a product that was leaving millions of people widows and orphans. Every year, 10 lakh Indians die due to using tobacco and it is the single most preventable cause of death, it said.
