Philip Morris Indian subsidiary violates Indian Tobacco Control Act

(To read this posting in hindi language , please click here )

-----------------------------

An advertisement of a tobacco product in Goa by the world's largest tobacco company Philip Morris' subsidiary in India blatantly violates the Indian tobacco control Act.

"Tobacco companies are undermining [tobacco control] legislations in many countries" had said Dr. Douglas Betcher, Head of Tobacco Free Initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) recently in a meeting on the global tobacco treaty.

The rulings for point-of-sale tobacco advertising in accordance with `The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003', came into effect on 1 January 2006. The Rules envisage stringent and immediate action by the State Government against advertisement of smoking and other tobacco products.

The rules clearly mention that on point-of-sale of tobacco products, only type of tobacco product should be mentioned and no brand name, or any other promotional message or picture is permitted under the Indian law.

But Philip Morris' advertisements boards in Goa violates the law. "This advertisement is, at the onset, reckless contempt of the law" said Dr Shekhar Salkar, General Secretary of National Organization for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE India), in a letter addressed to the Indian subsidiary of Philip Morris demanding an unconditional apology for this gross violation and disregard to public health.

"The Act does not allow display of pictures at the point of sale of tobacco products, which has been done [pictures have been displayed] in the advertising board placed at a kiosk in Panaji near Hotel Lucky, opposite Municipal garden and kiosk below D. V. talaulikar hospital, Khalap Mension, Vasco,Goa. The law states that, at a point of sale of cigarettes, the boards shall contain only the words: - `Cigarettes are sold here'" said Dr Salkar.

"Big Tobacco's interference in health policy is one of the greatest threats to the treaty's implementation and enforcement. Philip Morris/Altria, British American Tobacco (BAT) and Japan Tobacco (JT) use their political influence to weaken, delay and defeat tobacco control legislation around the world. While the industry claims to have changed its ways, it continues to use sophisticated methods to undermine meaningful legislation" had said Kathy Mulvey of Corporate Accountability International at the recent meeting last year on the global tobacco treaty.

---------

The exact wording of the rulings on point-of-sale tobacco advertising is given below:

(a) All the existing points of sale advertisement boards for cigarettes and other tobacco products will have to be removed.

(b) The point of sale advertisement boards that is permitted under the Rules shall not exceed 60 cm x 45 cm. Each of these boards should contain the specified health warning occupying the top edge of the board measuring 20 cm x 15 cm and the display boards shall only list the type of tobacco product at the point of sale, without any mention of the board name or other promotional message or picture.

(c) There shall be no display of cigarette and other tobacco products at the point of sale.

----

"People need to become more aware of existing tobacco control legislations in India and take responsibility in partnering with the government for the enforcement of the same" said another tobacco control advocate Professor Dr Rama Kant who heads Indian Society Against Smoking, and has been working closely with NOTE India too.

Only time will tell how committed Indian Government and state government of Goa is to the public health and well-being of its citizens, and take 'stringent and immediate action' as per the law.

-----------------

(To read this posting in hindi language , please click here )

PM's Indian subsidiary removes tobacco advertisements in Goa

Activists to go to court for legal action against Godfrey Phillips

(To read this posting in hindi language , please click here)

------------

To download:

- The Cigarette and other tobacco products Act 2003 , click here 

- the rulings on point-of-sale tobacco advertising , click here 

---------------

The point-of-sale tobacco advertisements that were violating the Indian tobacco control Act in Goa, India, were removed by the evening of 16 January 2008.

In the lead up to the removal of these advertisements, activists and media had reported that the advertisements of a cigarette brand of world's largest tobacco company - Philip Morris' Indian subsidiary were blatantly violating `The Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act 2003' and the rulings for the point-of-sale tobacco advertising.

Clearly due to the mounting pressure, these tobacco advertisements were removed by last evening.

"I'm extremely happy that the advertisement boards were removed! But we cannot take these violations lying down! I'm moving the local court against the Godfrey Phillips [Indian subsidiary of Philip Morris], the dealers and the kiosk owners" said

Dr Shekhar Salkar, General Secretary of National Organization for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE India). "All the activists must watch for any violation and book these irresponsible industrialists".

The rulings for point-of-sale tobacco advertising in accordance with `The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003', envisage stringent and immediate action by the State Government against advertisement of smoking and other tobacco products.

The rules clearly mention that on point-of-sale of tobacco products, only the kind of tobacco product being sold should be mentioned, and no brand name, or any other promotional message or picture is permitted under the Indian law.

But the tobacco advertisements boards in Goa were violating this law. "This advertisement is, at the onset, reckless contempt of the law" had said Dr Salkar, in a letter addressed to the Indian subsidiary of Philip Morris demanding an unconditional apology for this gross violation and disregard to public health.

"The Act does not allow display of pictures at the point of sale of tobacco products, which has been done [pictures were displayed earlier] in the advertising board placed at a kiosk in Panaji near Hotel Lucky, opposite Municipal garden and kiosk below D. V. talaulikar hospital, Khalap Mension, Vasco,Goa. The law states that, at a point of sale of cigarettes, the boards shall contain only the words: - `Cigarettes are sold here'" had reported Dr Salkar.

Although the rulings of the tobacco control Act mentions stringent and immediate action by the state government against such violations, it is yet to be seen how urgently and stringently will the government act to protect public health from the tobacco industry interference.

---------

The relevant part of the rulings on point-of-sale tobacco advertising, in accordance with The Cigarette and Other Tobacco products Act 2003 is given below:

(a) All the existing points of sale advertisement boards for cigarettes and other tobacco products will have to be removed.

(b) The point of sale advertisement boards that is permitted under the Rules shall not exceed 60 cm x 45 cm. Each of these boards should contain the specified health warning occupying the top edge of the board measuring 20 cm x 15 cm and the display boards shall only list the type of tobacco product at the point of sale, without any mention of the board name or other promotional message or picture.

(c) There shall be no display of cigarette and other tobacco products at the point of sale.

--------

Visit:

Tambakoo Kills web-blog (hindi and english)

Appeal: Write to Ministers reviewing pictorial warnings on tobacco products

(To read this posting in hindi language , please click here )

--------------------------------------------------------------

(The list of ministers with their contact details is given below at the end of this posting)

Civil society activists have strongly condemned the repeated postponement and eventual dilution of the provisions of The Cigarette and other Tobacco products Act 2003, on displaying pictorial warnings on tobacco products in public health interest.

In spite of an urgent call for action by the shimla High court and the civil society, Government of India has not indicated a final decision on the date of nature of warning. It was deferred from June 1, 2007 and postponed four times thereafter.

Tobacco claims around 1 Million lives per year in India. The tall is likely to exceed to 2 Million per year in the next 20 years. Unsuspecting poor and uneducated people are not only the most hard-hit by life-threatening tobacco hazards, but also a substantial portion of their daily earning goes up ‘in smoke’, and later in treatment of tobacco-related health hazards. The low literacy rates in India demand the need to display Pictorial warnings on the products. However, the Government has turned a nelson’s eye to the reality, possibly influenced by the pro-tobacco industry lobby.

Both the Tobacco Industry and Government have a duty to communicate clearly and honestly about the often-deadly health risks of tobacco use to potential and current consumers.

Government of India seems to have fallen prey to the misleading argument of tobacco industry that the display of pictorial warnings would invite decline in consumption, thereby causing unemployment. This is untrue as the decline in consumption is likely to remain steady for next two decades. Moreover, it will be offset by the growth in population.

Pictorial warnings have been introduced in several developing & neighboring nation like Thailand, Singapore, and Brazil, Chile, S. Africa and others with demonstrated benefits to public health.

A Group of Ministers (GOM) has been convened by the Indian Prime Minister to examine the issue. This group includes Shri Pranab Mukharjee (Minister for External Affairs) Shri Jaipal Reddy (Minister for Urban Department), Shri Priyaranjan Dasmunshi (Minister for Parliamentary Affairs), Shri Kamal Nath (Minister for Commerce) Shri Oscar Fernandes (Minister for State Labour and Employment) and Dr Ambumani Ramdoss (Minister for health & family welfare).

This GOM is likely to be biased in favor of the tobacco lobby. Shri Pranab Mukharjee for instance has a massive presence of bidi workers in his constituency. Andhra Pradesh, from where Mr Jaypal Reddy hails, is also a tobacco growing state.

Therefore it is important to write to these ministers individually and let them know the public health concerns.

Dr Shekhar Salkar,
General Secretary, NOTE India.
Ph: 9822485769
Email: sssalkar@...

--------------------------------

Group of Ministers (GOM) reviewing pictorial warnings on tobacco products in India

Mr. Pranab Mukherjee
Permanent Address: 2-A, 1st Floor, 60/27, Kabi Bharti Sarani
(Lake Road), Kolkata-700029,
Tel: (033) 24648366

Shri Jaipal Sudini Reddy
H.No. 6-70, Village and Mandal Madgul,
Distt. Mahbubnagar-509 001 (Andhra Pradesh)
(040)23547122

Shri Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi
Present Address: 7, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi - 110 003
Tels.(011) 24653778, 24653895
Fax.(011) 24653727
Permanent Address: 6A, Rani Bhawani Road,
Kolkata- 700 026 (West Bengal)
Phones: (033)4640707,4640505
Fax: (033) 4640202

Shri Kamal Nath
Present Address: 1, Tughlak Road, New Delhi - 110 011
Tels. (011) 23792233, 23793396, 23011300
Permanent address: Vill. Shikarpur, P.O. Linga, Distt. Chhindwara - 480 001(Madhya Pradesh). Tel.& Fax.(07162)242233

Shri Oscar Fernandes
Present address: 8, pandit pant marg, New Delhi-110001
Permanent address: Doris Rest Haven, Ambalpady, Udupi, Karnataka-575103.

Dr Anbumani Ramadoss
Permanent address: New No.10, Old No.44, Kamatchi Amman, Koil Street, Distt. Villupuram, Tindivanam 604001

----------------------------------------------

(To read this posting in hindi language , please click here )

Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com

Prevent an independent PMI from worsening the tobacco pandemic

.............................................................

In anticipation of the expected announcement on 30 January 2008 of the timing of Philip Morris International's spin-off, public health organizations worldwide say there is heightened urgency for governments to enact comprehensive laws to control Philip Morris and other tobacco companies.

"The unleashing of Philip Morris International from Philip Morris USA poses the risk that Philip Morris International will become even more predatory in pushing its toxic products to young people worldwide," says Anna White, of the U.S.-based corporate accountability group Essential Action, "An independent Philip Morris International, which is likely to be based in Switzerland, will no longer feel constrained by public opinion in its home country and most important market, the United States."

Altria/Philip Morris is the world's biggest multinational tobacco corporation. Eighty percent of its sales are outside of the United States.

The company announced last August its intention to pursue the spin-off. Today, Altria's Board of Directors is expected to finalize the decision and announce the timing of the spin-off, assuming required regulatory approvals.

More than 150 public health organizations in over 70 countries worldwide have endorsed a call on governments to adopt comprehensive tobacco control measures to ensure that the spin-off of Philip Morris International does not worsen the tobacco epidemic. Among other measures, they are urging that governments ratify and strongly implement the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, ban the tobacco industry from lobbying or working on legislation to implement the global treaty, and exclude tobacco products from bilateral and multilateral trade and investment agreements. A list of their demands is available at www.philipmorrisbreakup.org/calltogovs .

"An independent Philip Morris International based outside of the United States will be immune to even the possibility of domestic regulation in the United States or litigation in U.S. courts,""This has been a real threat to Philip Morris International." said Anna White,

The litigation risk to Philip Morris International was recently made apparent in the U.S. government case against the tobacco industry. In that case, U.S. Judge Gladys Kessler ruled that Philip Morris and other tobacco companies must stop using misleading terms like "light," "mild" and "low" (as in "Marlboro Lights"). The tobacco industry has used these terms to deceive smokers into thinking they are using a reduced risk product, when they are not. Judge Kessler ruled that the prohibition on use of these misleading terms extends to Philip Morris International. If an independent PMI had no connection to the United States, the judge would not have been able to issue this order.

"The World Health Organization projects that 10 million people will die annually from tobacco-related disease by 2030, 70 percent in developing countries," says White. "We must work to lessen this toll, not allow an independent Philip Morris to make it worse."

Tobacco is reported to kill more than a million people in India alone every year. It is a well-known cause of life-threatening ailments. It has also been proven in many studies that most of the tobacco use begins before the age of 18.

It is indeed a moral imperative on the Government of India to protect the right to life and good health of its young citizens, especially from public health and social justice point-of-view.

"One of the easiest ways to significantly bring down number of children and youth who get initiated to tobacco use in India, without any budgetary allocation for this public health exercise, is to remove depiction of tobacco use in films and TV", had rightly said Dr Ramadoss at the last World Conference on Tobacco or Health in USA.

One of the major influences on the uptake of teen tobacco use is the glamourisation of tobacco use in movies and on television. This has been well documented by comprehensive research studies in India and US.

In an earlier study done by World Health Organization and Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in 2003 it was revealed that 76% of Indian movies had tobacco use shown in them. In 1991, where 22% of top box office movie hits had lead characters using tobacco on-screen, in 2002, this escalated to 53% tobacco use depiction by lead characters in Indian movies. This study also demonstrated that 52.2% of children in India who had their first smoke were influenced by tobacco use depicted in movies.

A repeat follow-up study conducted by WHO and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in India on top box office movie hits during 2004-2005 demonstrated that tobacco use depiction in movies has become more aggressive as compared to previous years. During 2004-2005, 89% of all movies analyzed contained tobacco use on screen and 75.5% movies depicted leading stars using tobacco on screen. Moreover 41% of movies screened had clear and distinct tobacco brand placement.

Dr Ramadoss says categorically that stopping depiction of tobacco use in films is an evidence based public health measure, and that is what he has been strongly advocating since May 31, 2005.

India, says Dr Ramadoss, has the world's largest film industry rolling out over 900 films per year. Through cinema theatres, these movies reach 60 million people and through cable television network, they further reach another 70 million people in India. "Influence of cinema is paramount in India" says Dr Ramadoss.

Dr Ramadoss had also said "film and tobacco industry are hands-in-glove involved" and suggested big pay-offs too.

The Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act 2003  came into effect since May 31, 2003. Explaining the amendments notified on May 31, 2005, Dr Ramadoss had said that movies showing tobacco use will be given 'A' certificate on the condition that the characters using tobacco on screen agree to do a disclosure stating tobacco hazards clearly either before, middle or before the end of that movie.

Health warnings in the same language as that of the movie would start scrolling up 1 minute before the use of tobacco is depicted in movies and will end not before another minute after the depiction of tobacco use stops in that movie.

Exposure to tobacco use in movies is clearly linked to youth tobacco use. Simply put, more must be done to ensure that tobacco use in movies is removed from films seen by our nation's youth. We have within our power one simple and effective way to jump start the decline in youth tobacco use - delete tobacco use in films from the list of influences that rob our youth of longer and healthier lives by removing tobacco use from movies, unless they clearly depict the negative health effects. Together we can ensure that movies continue to entertain and inspire our children and youth, and at the same time, save countless lives from tobacco addiction and premature death. The right to life must overrule the right to `creative liberty' of film-stars.

WHO Report (2008): Global Tobacco Epidemic is worsening

Urgent Action by Nations to Implement Proven Solutions

(Statement of Matthew L. Myers, President, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids)

-----------------------

To read/ download this posting in hindi language , click here 

To read/ download The Global Tobacco Epidemic report of WHO 2008 , click here 

To read/ download MPOWER : Six policies to reverse the tobacco epidemic, click here 

To read/ download WHO's Director General's foreward and summary  of this report, click here 

**************************************************************

World Health Organization (WHO) today released a landmark report that makes clear both the devastating scope of the global tobacco epidemic � it is the leading cause of preventable death in the world today � and the fact that it is entirely preventable if nations urgently implement proven solutions.

This report presents the first comprehensive picture of what the world's nations are doing to address this public health crisis, and it demonstrates starkly that most nations are not doing nearly enough.

While some countries have shown exemplary leadership, overall only around five percent of the world's population is covered by any one of the key interventions recommended by the WHO.

The world is truly at a crossroads in this battle. With Philip Morris International and other multinational tobacco companies aggressively introducing new products and increasingly targeting the developing world, it is urgent that nations act now to implement the proven solutions identified in this report. If they do so, they can save hundreds of millions of lives. If nations fail to act, the world will pay a terrible price.

The WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2008, finds that tobacco use already kills 5.4 million people a year and the epidemic is worsening, especially in the developing world where more than 80 percent of tobacco-caused deaths will occur in the coming decades.

Unless urgent action is taken, one billion people will die worldwide from tobacco use this century. Tobacco use is so devastating to the human body that it is a risk factor for six of the eight leading causes of death in the world.

The good news is that this epidemic is far from inevitable, and we know how to stop it. Based on science and experience, the WHO has identified six cost-effective solutions  that have been proven to reduce tobacco use and that every nation should implement.

Called the MPOWER  package by the WHO, these solutions require nations to:

* Monitor tobacco use and assess the impact of tobacco prevention and cessation efforts;

* Protect everyone from secondhand smoke with laws that require smoke-free workplaces and public places;

* Offer help to every tobacco user to quit;

* Warn and effectively educate every person about the dangers of tobacco use with strong, pictorial health warnings and hard-hitting, sustained media campaigns to educate the public;

* Enact and enforce comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorships and on the use of misleading terms such as "light" and "low-tar;" and

* Raise the price of tobacco products by increasing tobacco taxes.

More than 150 nations have committed to implementing these measures by ratifying the WHO tobacco control treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) . The scientific evidence is beyond dispute that these solutions work. Equally important, they are affordable and achievable. Most can be implemented at little or no cost to governments. When costs are involved, higher tobacco taxes can provide the necessary revenue � not only for tobacco control, but for other public health and social programs as well. In fact, these measures will save government huge sums by reducing health care expenditures related to tobacco.

The global tobacco epidemic does not just affect the health of millions of people � it is also an economic threat that costs nations hundreds of billions of dollars in health care expenditures and other economic losses each year. Tobacco use disproportionately hurts the poor and deepens poverty by siphoning money needed for basic necessities such as food, shelter and education and killing wage earners in the prime of their lives.

While there is much work to be done, support for global tobacco control policies is gaining momentum. In South Africa, tobacco taxes were increased by 250 percent in the 1990s � with cigarette consumption falling by five to seven percent for every 10 percent increase, with the most significant decline among the young and the poor.

Just this year, a growing number of countries have implemented strong smoke-free laws, including France, Turkey and Thailand. And several countries, including Brazil , Thailand , Belgium , Australia and Canada have increased public awareness of the dangers of smoking by enhancing pictorial warnings on the packaging of tobacco products to increase smokers' awareness of their risk. The impact in Brazil was significant � after new picture warnings were introduced, 67 percent of smokers said the new warnings encouraged them to quit, an impact that was particularly strong among less educated, lower income people.

In addition, next week representatives from more than 150 countries will meet to begin negotiations on an historic international treaty to combat the illicit trade in tobacco products to supplement the FCTC.

The time to act is now. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids urges nations to implement these proven solutions and save millions of lives.

------------

The WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2008 can be downloaded from the URL:

Mark Hurley

Washington DC, USA

Phone: +1-202-460-2679

Email: mhurley@...

To read/ download this posting in hindi language , click here 

To read/ download The Global Tobacco Epidemic report of WHO 2008 , click here 

To read/ download MPOWER : Six policies to reverse the tobacco epidemic, click here 

To read/ download WHO's Director General's foreward and summary  of this report, click here 

To read/ download The Global Tobacco Epidemic report of WHO 2008 , click here 

To read/ download MPOWER : Six policies to reverse the tobacco epidemic, click here 

To read/ download WHO's Director General's foreward and summary  of this report, click here 

However the global tobacco epidemic stands starkly apart from other conventional disease control programmes because of an aggressive tobacco industry that is hell-bent on protecting and expanding its markets globally, particularly in the developing countries of Asia and Africa. The six-effective tobacco control policies recommended under the MPOWER package doesn’t include holding tobacco corporations accountable specifically, although it is inherent in each of them!

The MPOWER package includes:

M: stands for ‘monitor’ tobacco use and prevention policies (not the tobacco corporations). Assessment of tobacco use and its impact must be strengthened.

P: stands for ‘protect’ people from tobacco smoke. All people have a fundamental right to breathe clean air. Smoke-free places are essential to protect non-smokers and also to encourage smokers to quit.

O: stands for ‘offer’ help to quit tobacco use. Services to treat tobacco dependence are fully available in only nine countries with 5% of the world’s population. Countries must establish programmes providing low-cost, effective interventions for tobacco users who want to quit.

W: stands for ‘warn’ about the dangers of tobacco use. Despite conclusive evidence, relatively few tobacco users understand the full extent of their health risk. Graphic warnings on tobacco packaging deter tobacco use, yet only 15 countries, representing 6% of the world’s population, mandate pictorial warnings (covering at least 30% of the principal surface area) and just five countries with a little over 4% of the world’s people, meet the highest standards for pack warnings. More than 40% of the world’s population lives in countries that do not prevent use of misleading and deceptive terms such as ‘light’ and ‘low tar’.

E: stands for ‘enforce’ bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. Partial bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, do not work because the industry merely redirects its resources to other non-regulated marketing channels. Only a total ban can reduce tobacco consumption and protect people, particularly youth, from industry marketing tactics. Only 5% of the world’s population currently lives in countries with comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.

R: stands for ‘raised’ taxes on tobacco. Raising taxes and therefore prices, is the most effective way to reduce tobacco use, and especially to discourage young people from using tobacco. Only 4 countries, representing 2% of the world’s population, have tax rates greater than 75% of retail price.

“Reversing this entirely preventable epidemic must now rank as a top priority for public health and for political leaders in every country of the world” said Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of the WHO in the summary.

But without holding tobacco corporations accountable and monitoring them stringently to ensure that every component of MPOWER works with the utmost impact, reversing the global tobacco epidemic shall remain a daunting challenge.

Tobacco corporations across the world have been not only aggressively protecting and promoting their tobacco markets, particularly in the developing countries, but also trying their best to either abort or weaken the public health policies that begin to take shape in countries around the world.

“Big Tobacco's interference in health policy is one of the greatest threats to the treaty's implementation and enforcement. Philip Morris/Altria, British American Tobacco (BAT) and Japan Tobacco (JT) use their political influence to weaken, delay and defeat tobacco control legislation around the world. While the industry claims to have changed its ways, it continues to use sophisticated methods to undermine meaningful legislation” had said Kathy Mulvey of Corporate Accountability International at the recent meeting last year on the global tobacco treaty �" the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

FCTC, or the first public health and corporate accountability treaty, is a testimony that more than 150 countries globally are committed to decimating the global tobacco epidemic. The WHO’s MPOWER package of six-effective tobacco control policies gives a road map to reduce tobacco use.

The alert monitoring of tobacco corporations and holding them accountable for violating existing health policies in present and the past will complement the impact of the MPOWER package in reducing tobacco use globally.

To read/ download The Global Tobacco Epidemic report of WHO 2008 , click here 

To read/ download MPOWER : Six policies to reverse the tobacco epidemic, click here 

To read/ download WHO's Director General's foreward and summary  of this report, click here 

Audio capsules in hindi/ urdu on people's movements

Episode 1

***********

Radio Asha is dedicated to give a voice to the most unheard in development discourses. The episode 1 (10 minutes) of Radio Asha brings to you the following three issues in hindi/ urdu languages:

 1)       The sad demise of social activist and Gandhian Baba Amte

 2)       The kidnapping of the daughter of social activists in Bhadohi

 3)       The Global Tobacco Epidemic 2008 report of World Health Organization

Tune in to Radio Asha, listen while walking, cooking, gardening� to download on your computer/ mobile phone/ MP3 players/ iPods, click here or go to: http://radioasha.blogspot.com/2008/02/radio-asha-14-february-2008.html

Thanks

 Radio Asha

 (To read this posting in hindi language , click here )

-------------------------

GENEVA---Negotiations toward a protocol on illicit tobacco trade to the global tobacco treaty, formally known as the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control  (WHO FCTC), opened yesterday. While many countries voiced their commitment to a protocol that will require tobacco corporations to assume responsibility for their supply chains, provide financial disincentives to the illicit tobacco trade, and prevent government collaboration with the tobacco industry, Japan earned the first Marlboro Man Award of the protocol negotiations.

The award, bestowed by the Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals (NATT) , exposes and challenges countries for espousing treaty positions that benefit the tobacco industry at the expense of public health. The award is named after Philip Morris's notorious advertising icon, which has played a central role in spreading tobacco addiction globally. On the strength of the Marlboro Man advertising and promotional campaign, Marlboro became the world's leading cigarette brand, and Philip Morris/Altria (soon to split into Philip Morris USA and Philip Morris International) became the world's largest and most profitable tobacco transnational.

In its opening comments, Japan questioned the value of a potential protocol and suggested that the illicit tobacco trade could be tackled at the domestic level and through existing trade and intellectual property agreements. The Japanese government owns a 50% stake in Japan Tobacco, the world's third largest tobacco corporation, and was sharply criticized throughout the FCTC talks for advocating positions that served the interests of Big Tobacco.

"Tobacco industry interference poses a huge threat to implementation of the global tobacco treaty," said Kathy Mulvey of Corporate Accountability International , a NATT member. "Governments and civil society must be vigilant to ensure that this vital protocol is not derailed." Throughout negotiations on the FCTC from 2000 to 2003, NATT presented the Marlboro Man Award based on the previous day's negotiations.

"Considering that Japan Tobacco's products are being smuggled into West African markets like Nigeria, we're concerned that the Japanese government has a conflict of interest in these negotiations," says Akinbode Oluwafemi of Environmental Rights Action Nigeria, also a NATT member.

Contact: Bryan Hirsch, Corporate Accountability International , +41 76 547 3476

---------------------------

Tobacco giants accused of 'collusion' over cigarette smuggling

GENEVA (AFP) --- Tobacco giants Philip Morris, British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco actively collude with cigarette smugglers to gain a foothold in lucrative developing markets, campaigners alleged on Wednesday.

"Transnationals benefit in a number of ways from the illicit trade in tobacco," said Kathyrn Mulvey, director of international policy with the lobby group Corporate Accountability International (CAI).

This includes establishing a brand presence in new markets, and getting more people addicted to cigarettes -- particularly children because smuggled tobacco is so cheap, she told journalists.

"Documents do show industry complicity in this deadly business," Mulvey added.

The World Health Organisation is meeting in Geneva to debate a new protocol on the illicit tobacco trade to the existing Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

"This week, governments have a new opportunity to prioritise health over trade and commercial interests, and hold tobacco transnationals accountable for the harms they cause," Mulvey said.

The illicit tobacco trade makes up approximately 10 percent of global tobacco sales and costs governments between 40-50 billion dollars (27-34 billion euros) every year, CAI said in a statement.

In African countries such as Nigeria, the rate is even higher at between 10 and 16 percent, said environmental and health activist Akinbode Oluwafemi.

Smuggled tobacco constitutes a "serious public health issue in Africa," he told journalists.

In Nigeria, a pack of smuggled cigarettes can be less than half price.

"It's cheaper than sweets, cheaper than any other item," Oluwafemi said.

Companies such as British American Tobacco are now seeking to portray themselves as anti-smuggling, with BAT offering to supply logistical support and even vehicles to the Standards Organisation of Nigeria.

However, these moves ignore the company's "long history of smuggling into Nigeria," which was documented in a probe by Britain's House of Commons, Oluwafemi said.

CAI said that only a strong protocol to the WHO treaty would be effective in holding companies to account.

"If history is any indication, the tobacco industry will take every opportunity to undermine the treaty's implementation," Oluwafemi warned.

The WHO said last week that tobacco use could kill more than one billion people around the world this century unless governments and civil society act to reverse the epidemic.

 (To read this posting in hindi language , click here )

Tobacco Kills News Bulletin: Issue 323

Brought to you by:

Indian Society Against Smoking and Citizen News Service

(To read this news bulletin in hindi language , please click here )

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Summary:

 This Tobacco Kills News Bulletin features two emerging issues in spotlight over the past week:

1) Anti-tobacco activists in India have responded strongly at the decision taken by the Government of India's Group of Ministers (GOM) to dilute pictorial warnings on tobacco products 

2) The first-ever international study of the tobacco use habits of pregnant women says the rates of smoking, use of smokeless tobacco and exposure to secondhand smoke during pregnancy are higher than expected in developing and middle income countries, and pose an emerging threat to the health of women and their children.

--------------------------------------------------------

 'Mild pics on tobacco products won't work'
Press Trust of India (PTI), 28 February 2008

 Excerpts:

-----------

"The decision of a Group of Ministers (GOM) not to insist on effective pictorial warnings on tobacco products smacks of political opportunism. It is sad to note that the rising death toll has made no impact on the GoM," National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE) General Secretary Dr Shekhar Salkar said.

 "The GOM in its meeting headed by Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee had agreed for two mild images of a scorpion signal depicting cancer or an x-ray plate of a man suffering from lung cancer as pictorial warning to deter people from smoking"

 "Our insistence on displaying either the skull and bones graphics or the photograph of a cancer patient is based on the belief that they would make the ignorant consumer more conscious and alert"

 (To read the complete news, click here)

--------------------------------------------------

 'Scorpion sign on cigarette packs not enough as deterrent'
IANS, 27 February 2008

 Excerpts:
------------
'For their short-term political benefits, politicians have compromised with the health of millions of Indians,' alleged Shekhar Salkar.

 "The size of the pictorial warnings would be either 30 or 40 percent of the package and not 50 percent as suggested by the health ministry."

 'Indian authorities lack political will to take strong action' said Bhavna Mukhopadhyay, director of health promotion at the Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI)

 "By reducing the size of the pictorial warning from proposed 50 percent to 30 percent of the packet, the government has compromised with the international best practices" said Monika Arora of the NGO Hridaya.

 (To read the complete news, click here)
---------------------------------------------------

 Researchers Conduct First Global Study of Pregnant Women's Exposure to Tobacco
By Jessica Berman, Voice of America
29 February 2008

 Excerpts:
-----------

 The first-ever international study of the tobacco use habits of pregnant women says the rates of smoking, use of smokeless tobacco and exposure to secondhand smoke during pregnancy are higher than expected in developing and middle income countries, and pose an emerging threat to the health of women and their children

 Researchers, led by investigators at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, found that the highest levels of smoking were in Latin America, with 18 percent of pregnant women in Uruguay and 10 percent of women in Argentina lighting up.

 Investigators found smokeless tobacco was popular among up to one-third of pregnant women in some parts of India.

 The highest levels of secondhand smoke exposure were found in Pakistan, where nearly half of all pregnant women reported that both they and their children were regularly exposed to someone else's smoke.

 Women who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to go into labor prematurely and give birth to low weight babies. Experts say smoking in pregnancy can also cause sudden infant death syndrome after the baby is born.

 (To read the complete news, click here)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Comments are welcome at: tambakoo.kills@...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 (To read this news bulletin in hindi language , please click here )

(To read this posting in hindi language , please click here )

(To listen to the audio podcast  of this posting from Radio Asha , click here )

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

100 years ago in 1908, more than 15,000 women marched in New York demanding equal pay and voting rights. This day is commemorated as International Women's Day (8 March). This year the theme is: Shaping progress.

It is not very encouraging to see organizations and individuals working on specific issues are so compartmentalized that it is difficult to bring them together even on cross-cutting issues and opportunities for enhanced advocacy.

For instance on International Women's Day, raising awareness about rising tobacco use among women, especially young girls in developing countries, is so apt.

Tobacco use among women has been on a rise, particularly in developing countries, says the new World Health Organization (WHO)'s report on Global Tobacco Epidemic 2008.

Late in February 2008, researchers have released the results of the first-ever international study of the tobacco use habits of pregnant women. Investigators say the rates of smoking, use of smokeless tobacco and exposure to secondhand smoke during pregnancy are higher than expected in developing and middle income countries, and pose an emerging threat to the health of women and their children.

Investigators found smokeless tobacco was popular among up to one-third of pregnant women in some parts of India.

The highest levels of secondhand smoke exposure were found in Pakistan, where nearly half of all pregnant women reported that both they and their children were regularly exposed to someone else's smoke.

Women who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to go into labor prematurely and give birth to low weight babies. Experts say smoking in pregnancy can also cause sudden infant death syndrome after the baby is born.

Greater female autonomy and changes in women's roles are associated with smoking uptake. Depression is strongly associated with smoking, and women have about twice the rate of depression than men.

Through comprehensive social research, the tobacco industry understands popular culture and psycho-social aspirations, and it incorporates this knowledge within massive promotional eff orts to seek new markets and sustain existing ones. Prevailing gender norms are a key feature within promotion for both sexes.

Using seductive but false images of vitality, slimness, emancipation, sophistication, and sexual allure, the industry targets women.

Liberation, autonomy, and even female friendship feature in developed countries advertising, and, increasingly, in regions where female roles have begun to change.

The Tobacco Reporter, an industry document, optimistically discussed its prospects in Asia in 1998:

"Rising per capita consumption�and an increasing acceptance of women smoking continue to generate new demand".

Slender, so-called "light", cigarettes packaged in pastel colours convey femininity and slimness in Japan and industrialized countries.

Tobacco causes similar health problems for men and women, including lung cancer, upper aerodigestive cancer, several other cancers, heart disease, stroke, chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Tobacco poses additional specific threats for men and women. Men risk declines

in fertility and sexual potency, and female smokers risk increased cardiovascular disease, in particular while using oral contraceptives, and higher rates of infertility, premature labour, low birth-weight infants, cervical cancer, early menopause, and bone fractures. Smoking during pregnancy adversely aff ects foetal development.

Female non-smokers are more likely to be exposed to environmental tobacco smoke, with its elevated risks of lung cancer and heart disease.

Lung cancer death rates in the European Union are nearly three times higher for female compared to male non-smokers, which researchers attribute to exposure to spouse smoking.

A recent meta-analysis found women develop lung cancer with lower levels of smoking compared to men, and are more at risk of contracting the (more aggressive) small cell lung cancer.

Among non-small cell cancer types, adenocarcinoma is more common among women. Explanations centre on women's greater use of low -tar cigarettes and more "compensatory" smoking (deeper inhalation), and faster smoking in response to workplace bans.

It appears women are most at risk of lung cancer if they begin smoking by age 25, six years later than for men.

It is imperative not only to raise awareness about tobacco hazards, but also to hold tobacco corporations accountable for the misleading and surreptitious tobacco promotion, and strengthening the implementation of existing tobacco control policies.

In India, the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (2003) and the global tobacco treaty (Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, FCTC) both have strongly endorsed tobacco advertising restrictions, ban to sale to minors, effective warnings on tobacco products and ban on use of misleading terms like `mild', `low tar' or `slim' on tobacco packs. But implementing such effective public health measures is indeed a huge challenge confronting us in present times.

Recently the group of ministers in India which was mandated to review the warning labels on tobacco packs, has actually reduced the size of the pictorial warnings from 50% to 30-40% and opted for less-effective pictorial warnings disapproving the more strong ones earlier approved to be effective in dissuading people especially young people from initiating tobacco use.

Let's hope, the theme of this year's International Women's Day (8 March) � SHAPING PROGRESS � will also mobilize women and men to shape progress on neglected public health measures as well.

(To read this posting in hindi language , please click here )

(To listen to the audio podcast  of this posting from Radio Asha , click here )

by  John R. Polito

(To read this posting in hindi language , please click here )

---------------------------------

Boston University School of Public Health professor Michael Siegel today accused the 14th World Conference on Tobacco or Health of selling the scientific integrity of the global tobacco control movement to pharmaceutical influence.

The conference is scheduled for Mumbai, India in March 2009. Its website indicates that Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline, makers of a growing array of quit smoking "medicines" will serve as conference sponsors.

14th World Conference on Tobacco or Health "How can you objectively discuss the population impact of NRT (nicotine replacement therapy) use at a conference sponsored by two of the leading nicotine replacement therapy drug companies," asks Dr. Michael Siegel, a preventive medicine physician who has been active in tobacco control for 20 years?

"How can you objectively discuss effective national strategies for smoking cessation," or "all aspects of individual and population-based approaches to helping people quit smoking at a conference sponsored by two of the leading nicotine replacement therapy drug companies." "You can't," he asserts.

There is growing awareness that while pharmaceutical quitting products consistently produce victories over placebo users in clinical trials, that those trials were not blind as claimed. Every cessation pharmacology product to date has fallen flat on its face in real-world use, and new evidence suggests that Champix and Chantix (varenicline) may be joining them.

"The drugs are approved because they've shown in FDA studies that they're better than placebo," says Dr. Edward Levin, a psychopharmacological researcher at Duke University Medical Center in Raleigh, N.C., as quoted yesterday in a CNN Money Chantix article. "But being better than placebo doesn't take a whole lot."

As early as 1984 the U.S. FDA was aware that the scientific foundation of clinical trials, placebo group comparisons, was shaky and in trouble. It was then that researchers resorted to the extreme of using small amounts of nicotine in placebo gum as a masking agent, a practice that continued in nicotine patch studies.

Could it be that drug addiction is the only pharmacology research area where comparisons with placebo control groups is actually a license to steal? Is it possible to hide from the average quitter the fact that placebo group assignment has thrown them into full-blown nicotine withdrawal, or hide active group assignment when chemically elevated dopamine output is providing a noticeable reduction in withdrawal intensity from prior quitting attempts?

While promising to double cessation rates, in October 2006 the CDC was forced to report that decline in the U.S. smoking rate had ground to a halt. Is cessation pharmacology actually undercutting worldwide cessation? Is toying with lengthy replacement nicotine weaning schemes actually costing smokers their lives?

Is it realistic to think that such concerns can be openly discussed and debated at a conference where those sponsoring the conference could potentially lose billions in profits if blinding concerns and real-world use findings were granted full and fair hearings?

Whether looking at National Cancer Institute survey data or data following smoking patients of Australian family practice physicians, real-world quitting method studies continue to find that those quitting "on their own" have higher long-term success rates than those using replacement nicotine or bupropion (Zyban).

Since September 11, 2002, industry consultants have countered with a wide range of theories and excuses that all miss one central point, that the continuing blanket marketing representation that these products will increase a smoker's chances of quitting is false.

"The preoccupation with nicotine replacement therapy, spurred on by the infusion of pharmaceutical dollars into the tobacco control field, is causing us to lose sight of the actual root of the problem: the addictive state itself," writes Dr. Siegel. "And that is a shame, because it may be severely hampering our efforts to help smokers quit."

A 2004 study by GlaxoSmithKline consultants found that, then, 37% of nicotine gum users were hooked on the cure. U.S. Presidential candidate Senator Barak Obama admits having been on nicotine gum for more than a year. During varenicline (Chantix/Champix) clinical trials the FDA permitted those who started using replacement nicotine after ending 12 weeks of varenicline use to be counted as successful varenicline quitters at long-term follow-up.

While replacement nicotine clearly poses far less health risk than smoking, it is just as obvious that those dependent upon it have not arrested their chemical dependency, and remain extremely vulnerable to returning to smoking.

Has the pharmaceutical industry invented a new definition of quitting, one that only refers to quitting one form of nicotine delivery, smoke? Why in nearly all clinical trials did it fail to examine nicotine levels in blood, urine or saliva of those declared to have successfully quit? Is the industry's lack of regard for whether a smoker arrests their chemical dependency closer to public health interests or those of the tobacco industry?

But concerns about taking our eye off the ball may be too late. At this moment the FDA is being petitioned to allow pharmaceutical nicotine to invade neighborhood convenience stores, to do open battle against tobacco, by being sold in daily-dose packs beside cigarettes.

While cleaner delivery and harm reduction make sense, intensifying an already ragging battle at the neighborhood candy, chip and soda store does not. Until now, youth were taught that NRT was for quitting. What consequences will flow when an ocean of NRT signs start screaming messages about fast, clean, safe, pleasure, flavor and taste? Should the initial experiment be upon an entire nation?

Are pharmaceutical industry chemical enslavement objectives really any different from the tobacco industry's? Is the 14th World Conference on Tobacco or Health being played like a fiddle?

A once secret 1972 R.J. Reynolds document states, "In a sense, the tobacco industry may be thought of as being a specialized, highly ritualized and stylized segment of the pharmaceutical industry. Tobacco products, uniquely, contain and deliver nicotine, a potent drug with a variety of physiological effects." "If nicotine is the sine qua non of tobacco products and tobacco products are recognized as being attractive dosage forms of nicotine, then it is logical to design our products -- and where possible, our advertising -- around nicotine delivery rather than "tar" delivery or flavor." "Hopefully, with time we will be able to develop sophisticated and improved minimum dosage forms for nicotine which will be more satisfying to the user and free of alleged health hazards."

"To prostitute oneself is defined as 'selling one's abilities, talent, or name for an unworthy purpose,'" writes Dr. Siegel. "By accepting Big Pharma money in order to fund its symposium, the World Conference on Tobacco OR Health, in my opinion, is selling its name for what I consider to be an unworthy purpose. The Conference is allowing itself to be used as a pharmaceutical marketing agent, simply to make money, when the over-reliance on pharmaceutical agents is in my opinion one of the main reasons why smoking cessation efforts and policies have been so ineffective."

(To read this posting in hindi language , please click here )

(To read it in hindi language, click here)

................................................................................

Although parliamentary Acts like The Cigarette and other tobacco Products Act (2003) and similar provisions banning direct, indirect and surrogate advertising of tobacco and alcohol products in India exist, the recent notification from Government of India has further reinforced the need to implement these pro-people policies in the very interest of the country.

Please read The Hindu (18 March 2008) news below:

Govt. issues notification banning surrogate liquor ads

The Hindu/ PTI, 18 March 2008

NEW DELHI: The government has issued a notification banning surrogate advertising of liquor companies in print, electronic and outdoor media.

 "The notification was issued on February 25, 2008, amending the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994 to the effect that no advertisement shall be permitted which promotes directly or indirectly, sale or consumption of cigarettes, tobacco products, wine, alcohol or liquor," Information and Broadcasting Minister P R Dasmunsi told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

 He said "failure to comply will entail action as per the provisions of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and rules framed thereunder".

 The minister also added that even the Press Council of India, a statutory autonomous body, has laid down the norms for journalistic conduct under Article 13 (2)(b) of the Press Council Act 1987, stating that "no advertisement shall be published, which promotes directly or indirectly production, sale or consumption of cigarettes, tobacco products and other intoxicants"

-----------------

To read The Hindu (18 March 2008) click here

To read this posting in hindi language, click here

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Contrary to the popular belief, it is not cancer but tuberculosis which is the major cause of smoking-related deaths in India. 38 per cent of deaths are due to TB, cancer is second at 32 per cent in India. The new study by the Centre for Global Health Research at the University of Toronto is the most comprehensive study ever done on the impact of smoking in India.

Currently about 104 deaths are attributed to smoking every hour in India. If the smoking levels continue to rise as today, by 2010, 114 people will be dieing every hour in India due to smoking.

Another major finding of this study is that 70% of people who will die due to smoking will be between the ages of 30 and 69 years - the most productive age group in any population.

In India the smoking quit rate remains the lowest in the world. Only two per cent adults have quit smoking often only after falling ill.

Experts say it's even more critical to use pictures in India given that 50 per cent of those smoking can't read and many are unaware of the harmful effects of tobacco.

In the age group of 13-15 years, 17.3 per cent are male smokers and 9.7 per cent are female smokers in India.

# But in the age group of 18 to 49, 32.7 per cent are male smokers whereas only 1.4 per cent of women contribute to smoking in India.

To read the study in english, click here

To read the study in hindi, click here

To read this posting in hindi language, click here

Photo credit: NDTV

(To read this posting in hindi language , please click here )

---------------------------------

NEW DELHI: After taking on film stars Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, health minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss has now targeted West Bengal chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for smoking in public. "About 70.2 per cent of men in West Bengal smoke, including their chief minister," Dr Ramadoss told reporters at an event here today.

When asked whether he had any word of advice for Mr Bhattacharjee, the health minister said: "He is a senior person and I am a small individual." But the anti-tobacco crusader said Mr Bhattacharjee needed no advice. "As a leader, he should set an example for others to follow."

Dr Ramadoss' remarks came a day after Mr Bhattacharjee made it clear that he would continue to smoke in his office, despite a blanket ban at the state secretariat. In Kolkata, Mr Bhattacharjee said Dr Ramadoss hadn't spoken to him on the matter.

Dr Ramadoss' caveat for the chief minister came on a day the government decided to make employers of smokers pay for their bad habit should they light up at work. "If one person is caught smoking, the fine would be Rs 5,000 for the institution, if two persons are caught it would be Rs 10,000 while if three persons are caught it would be Rs 15,000," Dr Ramadoss told reporters here today while outlining the government's plans for cracking down on smoking in public places.

As part of the plan, the government is also planning to fine an individual smoking in public places Rs 1,000 ~ up from the current Rs 200, he said. Expressing concern over the increase in the number of smokers in the country, he said the ministry had recommended the formulation of a comprehensive Tobacco Control Policy and its effective implementation needed to be initiated.

"There is a need to increase awareness among teachers, students and community leaders," he said at the release of the Global Youth Tobacco Survey and Global School Personnel Survey for 2006.

(To read this posting in hindi language , please click here )

To read this posting in hindi language , please click here 

-----------------------

 NEW DELHI: "Stop smoking" is easier said than done. Many doctors who say don't smoke are chain smokers themselves, claims the Indian global health professional student survey conducted by the World Health Organisation and the health ministry.

 A survey conducted in 15 medical colleges in India found that there is a high prevalence of tobacco consumption among medical students. The report also pointed out a poor enforcement of smoking ban and poor cessation help.

 Out of the 1,321 students sampled, the prevalence of cigarette smoking and use of tobacco products was higher among the third-year students. Nearly half of smokers reported to have a desire for a cigarette within 30 minutes of awaking in the morning, indicating strong dependence on tobacco. Less than half the students reported that their colleges had an official policy banning smoking in college buildings and clinics. Over 42% students reported having been exposed to second hand smoke at home and 73% reported exposure at public places.

 While over 91% medical students supported a ban on smoking in restaurants and enclosed public places, only 59.7% supported ban in discos, bars and pubs. Most of them did support a ban on selling tobacco products to minors and advertisement of tobacco products.

 Vineeta Pandey, DNA

................................

To read the posting in hindi language , click here

------------

 Nav Bharat Times, Goa

 
PANAJI: The Sessions Judge, North Goa, Mr U V Bakre  quashed the process issued by the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Panaji against Amitabh Bachchan, chairman of Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd (ABCL).

 The Court has also quashed the process issued against Mr Keshu Ramsay and M/s DMS Film Pvt Ltd.  However, it has not altered the order passed by the JMFC against M/s Anchor Daewoo India Ltd. 

The Court observed that no case made out against Amitabh Bachchan, Mr Keshu Ramsay and M/s DMS Films Pvt Ltd, Mumbai under Section 5(1), 5(3) of the Cigarettes and Tobacco and other Tobacco Products Act, 2003.

 It may be recalled that the National Organization for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE) had filed a complaint that the film star had violated the provisions of the Act as he was shown smoking a cigarette on a hoarding for his film `Family' and also endorsing an electrical appliance of M/s Anchor Daewoo India Ltd under the brand name Anchor.

 According to NOTE, these hoardings were in gross violation of Cigarettes and Tobacco and other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulations of the Trade and Commerce, Production Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003 and under Section 7 of the Goa Prohibition of Smoking and Spitting Act, 1997. Mr Joseph Vaz appeared on behalf of Amitabh Bachchan whereas Mr Prasad Kirtaney appeared on behalf of M/s DMS Films.

(To read this  posting in hindi language , please click here )
........................................................

Portrayal of tobacco use in Indian cinema has been on the rise. Despite of The cigarette and other tobacco products Act (2003), repeated requests and appeals by health activists and India's Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss to film stars to desist from smoking on screen and also from brand placement, the incidence of tobacco use in films is only rising.

Dr Ramadoss again appealed to the film-stars to be socially responsible and not smoke on-screen in the larger interest of the youth of the nation. He made a "passionate request" to film stars and other celebrities to stop endorsing cigarettes and other tobacco products on-screen.

"Eighty percent of movies have smoking scenes and studies show that majority of the youngsters take up smoking under the influence of celebrities," said Dr Ramadoss.

Just last week, the legal proceeding against Amitabh Bachchan, was quashed by a session's court in Goa. Indian film superstar Amitabh Bachchan had smoked a cigar in FAMILY film and the posters of which were splashed all across India. NOTE India, a Goa based NGO and Indian Society Against Smoking, a Lucknow based voluntary group had issued legal notices to Amitabh Bachchan then, and NOTE India had taken Amitabh to court. But court quashed the legal proceedings against the Bollywood film icon Amitabh.

Filmstars should also desist from endorsing junk food and alcohol, added Dr Ramadoss.

He agreed that although India had one of the best tobacco control laws but the problem lies with the implementation.

"We will try and bring in school teachers, NCC cadets and various NGOs as legal enforcers," Ramadoss said. "We are planning to introduce tobacco control at the school level also", he added.

Apart from this, the ministry would launch a host of commercial spots and advertisements in print as well as the electronic media, he said.

But is this enough? Is it going to be effective in controlling tobacco use in India? Will it desist youth to take up the deadly addiction? Most importantly, is it going to hold tobacco corporations accountable and put a check on misleading, surreptitious and deceitful tobacco promotions they unabashedly indulge in?

(To read this posting in hindi language, click here)

..............................................................................

Recently a news item published in The Times of India said that Nagpur Central Jail will become tobacco-free.

Despite of the fact that the Jail Manual includes tobacco, Nagpur Jail authorities are determined to enforce this public health measure in their premises. They have already removed all tobacco products from the jail canteen.

"Government is spending a big amount on the health of the prisoners. Tobacco is injurious to health,"  said Surinder Kumar, deputy inspector general of police, prisons (eastern region).

Several young prisoners dying in the jail has recently raised concern that prompted him to take the decision, he added.

Kumar said that the tobacco use, particularly by prisoners suffering from ailments like tuberculosis and HIV, is dangerous. Recently in one of the most comprehensive studies on tobacco use and habits done in India, it was found that tuberculosis (and not cancer) was the biggest cause of death for tobacco-users.

"Apart from ruining one's health, passive smokers also become victims in jail due to restrictions on their free movement," he said.

However just by rulings of ban-on-tobacco-use it will be difficult to enforce the ban considering the strong addiction tobacco is. The inmates of Nagpur Central Jail need quality tobacco cessation services so that they get counseled and assisted to quit tobacco use. Not only prison inmates but prison staff also needs help if they use tobacco in any form.

(To read this posting in hindi language, click here)

Will alcohol and tobacco companies continue with surrogate ads in India?

(To read this posting in  Hindi language ,  please click here )

----------

Indian laws do not allow alcohol and tobacco companies to advertise, but a few of these advertisers have extended their brands to other categories purely in an attempt to advertise.
 
Surrogate advertising happens when the brand extension is seen as a guise for a product that is almost non-existent in commercial terms.
 
An interesting article in the Mint asked the most valid question: Will Kingfisher Airlines be allowed to advertise?

 Kingfisher is also the brand-name of an Indian alcohol (beer). Kingfisher alcohol existed long before the Kingfisher airline came into existence. Similarly Indian Tobacco Company's (ITC) had their flagship brand cigarette `Wills' and then opened Wills Lifestyle stores (readymade garments) across India when Indian tobacco control Acts tightened the clamp on tobacco advertising.

 Another alcohol brand `Royal Challenge' (beer) sponsors a sport-event (Indian Premier League matches) which are broadcasted on Sony television. This time, Sony TV is likely not to screen such programmes since tobacco or alcohol sponsorship of sport events is also banned in India.

 Enforcing such tobacco and alcohol advertisement bans are in extreme interest of the people, public health and the country's welfare. Studies have proven how tobacco and alcohol ads use glamour and lifestyle imagery to promote their products and catch youth's fancy for their capital interests. The deadly health-hazards of tobacco and socio-economic disaster which alcohol spells on families are a reality we deal with in our day-to-day lives.

 However advertisement firms are going to lose Rs 250 crores of the revenue which was earlier coming from tobacco and alcohol ads. They ask: "Why is the [tobacco and alcohol advertisement] clamp not extended to other media, such as sponsored ground events, outdoors, point-of-purchase advertising etc., which will reap our losses?"

 The question is indeed very valid. These bans on alcohol and tobacco advertisement should be extended to sponsored ground events, outdoors, point-of-purchase advertising etc as well. Actually the Cigarette and other Tobacco Products Act (2003) does extend the ban on tobacco advertising (direct, indirect and surrogate) to sponsored ground events, outdoors, but allows tobacco advertising at the point-of-purchase with conditions: the size of the board is fixed by law and also the content: tobacco advertisements on point-of-sale cannot display any graphic or picture or any brand name, and should only mention the kind of tobacco being sold there with 25% of board area dedicated to health warning (Tobacco causes cancer or Tobacco kills) in local language.

 In the year 2000, the government formed a committee headed by the then additional secretary of the Information and broadcasting ministry which included prominent broadcasters to look into the issue. The committee recommended that products with real production and distribution channels cannot be called surrogate. However tobacco and alcohol companies have been promoting their products under the garb of non-tobacco or non-alcohol products with same brand names. Such surrogate advertisement does have a brand recall impact since most of the viewers associate a particular brand with the main product. For example, Royal Challenge is an alcohol for most consumers or potential consumers and not a sport!

Climate change has implications on public health

To read this posting in Hindi language, please click here
---------------------------------

The World Health Day this year (7 April 2008) focuses on the need to protect health from the adverse effects of climate change. The theme "protecting health from climate change" puts health at the centre of the global dialogue about climate change. The World Health Organization (WHO) selected this theme for the World Health Day in recognition that climate change is posing ever growing threats to global public health security.

The appalling conditions of health responses during civil unrest, violence and natural calamities like floods in India are well-documented. Also the disease outbreaks, especially water-borne diseases, have been posing an enormous challenge in such situations.

People requiring long-term ongoing care and treatment, are left with hardly any choice to adhere to their drug-regimens during civil unrest or natural calamities. For example people with tuberculosis (TB) who are required to adhere to the anti-TB drugs, often struggle to reach to the TB clinics and the risk to develop anti-TB drug-resistance is enormous. Similarly people living with HIV are struggling to reach to the clinics for the ongoing treatment, care and support services, particularly those who need anti-retroviral drugs and are not able to access them.

Moreover natural calamities escalate the risk of disease transmission and exacerbate the vulnerabilities of people to infectious diseases. With health systems disrupted and healthcare providers often at risk of facing violence themselves, it is a serious concern how to effectively improve health responses during civil unrest, violence and natural calamities.

According to the WHO, "through increased collaboration, the global community will be better prepared to cope with climate-related health challenges worldwide." Examples of such collaborative actions are: strengthening surveillance and control of infectious diseases like tuberculosis (TB), ensuring safer use of diminishing water supplies, and coordinating health action in emergencies.

Overwhelming evidence shows that human activities are affecting the global climate, with serious implications for public health. Catastrophic weather events, variable climates that affect food and water supplies, new patterns of infectious disease outbreaks, and emerging diseases linked to ecosystem changes, are all associated with global warming and pose health risks.

Climate and weather already exert strong influences on health: through deaths in heat waves, and in natural disasters such as floods, as well as influencing patterns of life-threatening vector-borne diseases such as malaria.

Continuing climate change will affect, in profoundly adverse ways, some of the most fundamental determinants of health: food, air and water, according to WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan. Malnutrition, lack of access to basic sanitation including access to safe drinking water, and pollution are known factors to aggravate the risk to respiratory diseases including TB.

Areas with weak health infrastructure - mostly in developing countries - will be the least able to cope without assistance to prepare and respond. These impacts will be disproportionately greater in vulnerable populations, which include the very young, elderly, medically infirm, poor and isolated populations.

Increasing global temperatures affect levels and seasonal patterns of both man-made and natural air-borne particles, such as plant pollen, which can trigger asthma. About 300 million people suffer from asthma, and 255 000 people died of the disease in 2005. Asthma deaths are expected to increase by almost 20% in the next 10 years if urgent actions to curb climate change and prepare for its consequences are not taken.

The health impacts of climate change will be difficult to reverse in a few years or decades. Yet, many of these possible impacts can be avoided or controlled. There are established steps in health and related sectors to reduce the exposure to and the effect of changing climate. For example, controlling disease vectors, reducing pollution from transport and efficient land use and water management are well-known and tested measures that can help.

However government of India's response in efficient land use and water management to mitigate the adverse impact of the global climate has been appalling.

The privatization of water, use of agriculture lands as special economic zone for rapid industrialization, heavy displacement of poor people with `development projects' which put them at grave risk of infectious diseases, are certainly not going to help India in minimizing the harm of the climate change.

To read this posting in Hindi language, please click here

Filmstar Shatrughan Sinha suggests herbal farming instead of tobacco

"There is an urgent need to spread the awareness about the deadly effects of tobacco products in the nation, particularly in rural areas where most people still remain ignorant to the ill effects of tobacco," said the film-star Shatrughan.

Most importantly he advised the tobacco growers to turn to other crops instead of tobacco, like herbal products. He suggested herbal products because the demand of herbal products is growing `exponentially throughout the world'.

Last year in July 2007, when the 148 nations' Conference on parties (COP-II) meet on global tobacco treaty was held in Thailand, India had demonstrated leadership on behalf of countries in South-East Asian Region to integrate agricultural diversification and alternative crops to tobacco in the comprehensive tobacco control.

Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is the first global corporate accountability and public health treaty in the world.

Though transnational tobacco corporations like Philip Morris/Altria, British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco use sophisticated public relations machinery to claim that tobacco-related agriculture creates jobs and boosts economic development, the facts speak otherwise.

Transnational tobacco corporations have created a supply system that exploits farmers while assuring growth in corporate profits.

Support to farmers and tobacco growing countries is vital.

Only five of the 125 tobacco exporting nations derive more than 5 per cent of their export from tobacco. These five nations are concentrated at the bottom of UNDP's 2006 Human Development Index: Uganda , Zimbabwe , United Republic of Tanzania, Malawi , and the Central African Republic .

"There's an urgent need to protect the 600 million people in India who're below 30 years of age from not just tobacco, but also from junk food and alcohol."

 He appealed to film and sport stars to refrain from patronizing junk foods, tobacco or alcohol. Dr Ramadoss added that:

 "The alcohol issue also needs to be addressed, but only four states - Jammu and Kashmir, Mizoram, Manipur and Gujarat - have prohibited alcohol"

 Outlining a list of pending initiatives of the health ministry, Ramadoss said the government would make nutritional labelling of all packaged food products mandatory "within two months". Under these rules - which have been under formulation for nearly two years - all food packets sold in India would have to display their content, listing levels of fat, proteins and other nutrients, and the calories available.

 But under The Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (2003)  despite of the provision requiring all tobacco products to display their nicotine and tar contents, it hasn't been enforced so far. Actually tobacco control Act and its provisions are indeed presenting a daunting challenge to implement.

 The Cigarette and other tobacco products Act (2003)  mentions:

 India is very far from the enforcement of various provisions of this Act and struggling to even get a consensus among the elected representatives on such crucial public health measures.

 Alcohol is thankfully banned so far in four Indian states, but tobacco, despite of being recognized as the leading cause of preventable deaths in India, is far from being banned in any city, leave aside the state!

To read this posting in Hindi language, please click here

"We will seek justice in the honourable High Court of Bombay" said Dr Shekhar Salkar, General Secretary of National Organization for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE).

"Mr.Amitabh Bachchan was clearly shown smoking a cigar [in `Family' film] in all the display-hoardings prominently. This amounts to clear and unambiguous breach of the law prevalent within the state and the country. However the session court did not appreciate the view of NOTE India, thereby absolving the respondents of the charges" added Dr Salkar.

In March 2008, the Sessions Judge, North Goa, Mr U V Bakre had quashed the legal proceeding against Amitabh Bachchan, chairman of Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited (ABCL), for smoking cigar on-screen in `Family' film. The sessions' Court had also quashed the process issued against Mr Keshu Ramsay and M/s DMS Film Pvt Ltd.

These hoardings, showing Amitabh smoking a cigar, were in gross violation of The Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulations of the Trade and Commerce, Production Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003 and under Section 7 of the Goa Prohibition of Smoking and Spitting Act, 1997.

The Cigarette and other tobacco products Act (2003) and other notifications have advocated for ban on portrayal of tobacco use in films, since it was identified by many studies done in India and abroad, that it influences children and young people to begin tobacco use. India's Health and Family welfare minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss had said during World Conference on Tobacco or Health (2006) while accepting the Luther Terry Award for tobacco control that:

"Studies have established that portrayal of tobacco use in films is one of the biggest influencer for young people to begin tobacco use. Since The Cigarette and other Tobacco Products Act (2003) came into increasing effect, not only tobacco use in films have been on the rise, but also tobacco brand placement."

However after about two years now, the words of Dr Ramadoss are yet to see the light of the day.

In January 2006 when Amitabh Bachchan smoked a cigar in 'Family' film and such posters were splashed all over India, NOTE (Goa) and Indian Society Against Smoking (ISAS, Lucknow) had issued legal notices to Amitabh Bachchan. NOTE went ahead with legal proceedings against the violation of the India's tobacco control Act.

"Exposure to tobacco use in movies is clearly linked to youth tobacco use. Simply put, more must be done to ensure that tobacco use in movies is removed from films seen by our nation's youth" said WHO awardee (2005) Professor Rama Kant, who is the founder-President of ISAS. "We have within our powers one simple and effective way to jump start the decline in youth tobacco use - delete tobacco use in films from the list of influences that rob our youth of longer and healthier lives by removing tobacco use from movies, unless they clearly depict the negative health effects" added Prof Kant.

"We anticipate that this [High Court judgement] would be a landmark case meriting a landmark judgement. It would either strengthen the case of anti-tobacco lobby vis-a-vis clandestine and surrogate advertisement of unhealthy products or it would prevail upon our lawmakers to resort to more stringent laws without exploitable loopholes" said Dr Salkar.

Tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death in the world. It causes 1 in 10 deaths among adults worldwide. In 2005, tobacco caused 5.4 million deaths, or an average of one death every 6 seconds. At the current rate, the death toll is projected to reach more than 8 million annually by 2030 and a total of up to one billion deaths in the 21st century.

To read this posting in Hindi language, please click here