Anti-tobacco activists urge the Government to follow the Australian example

Days after Australia became the first country in the world to have brought in plain packing of tobacco products, anti-tobacco activists in the country have urged the Indian Government to follow this health-friendly trend. Lok Sabha MP Baijayant Panda this past Friday introduced a Private Members’ Bill seeking plain packaging of tobacco products in the country by making amendments to the current Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003.

The incidence of oral cancer could see a drop. This is the hope held out by a survey conducted four months after the state banned gutkha and pan masala in July.

Directors of 14 regional cancer centres across the country, including the Indian Dental Association and Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Health Minister Ghulab Nabi Azad urging them to bring in a nationwide ban on the sale of gutka/pan masala products in the country.

The move comes after cancer specialists/oncologists, oral cancer victims and public health experts lauded the government for banning gutka in over 10 States under the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) regulations, which prohibit the addition of tobacco or nicotine in food, and urged the government to ensure effective implementation of this notification in all the States.

Malda: Bidis bind villagers of Malda’s Uttar Dariyapur together, and so does cancer.

AIZAWL: With the number of cancer patients rising in Mizoram, the Lal Thanhawla government is seriously putting its effort to establish a cancer hospital and research institute in Mizoram.

The rising cases of cancer patients in Mizoram has been caused by the excessive use of tobacco products by the people, according to Dr Kuddus Ahmed, secretary of Association of Oncologist of North East India who had commented this earlier in the year in Aizawl.

Issue advertisements saying ban unfair when tobacco content is higher in cigarettes manufacturers in a few states have moved court against the ban

Piqued by the number of states opting to ban the production, sale and marketing of gutkha, a group of manufacturers under the aegis of the Smokeless Tobacco Association have issued print ads saying it is unfair to ban their products when the tobacco content in these is lower than that in cigarettes. The ads, which appeared prominently in newspapers, say that one pouch of gutkha contains 0.2 g of tobacco as against 0.63 g in a single cigarette. The ads also blame “the powerful lobby of cigarette companies” for the ban, which has compelled a number of small gutkha manufacturers to shut shop.

SILCHAR : The consumption of tobacco and its related products are one of the causes of the dreaded disease cancer and the best way to keep oneself away from its spectre is to avoid the bad habit, p

PANJIM: Staff of health department will be trained to implement the Control of Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), whose provisions ban smoking in public places, as part of measures to effectively implement the Act in Goa.

The move suggested during a brainstorming session of a workshop on ‘Tobacco Control and the role of enforcement agencies’ organised by the Voluntary Health Association of Goa, VHAG recently also suggests making police more proactive in enforcing the no smoking law in Goa.
The health officers along with the state nodal officer and the member secretary (of tobacco control) suggested that they train their own staff on how to implement the Act.

With a number states deciding to ban use and sale of gutka, the Union health ministry has urged the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government to follow its counterparts in rest of the country in banning sale of such products in the state.

So far, states of Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Delhi have implemented the provision as envisaged under Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) regulation and enforced enforce ban on manufacture, sale and storage of gutka and pan masala containing tobacco and nicotine in their states. Chandigarh also followed the suit and banned the sale, manufacture and storage of gutka.