To commemorate the World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) 2016 and create greater awareness about why India needs to say NO to tobacco, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MOHFW) and WHO Country Office for India in collaboration with HRIDAY (Health Related Information Dissemination Amongst Youth) organized a technical consultation on 30 May 2016 in New Delhi.
Experts came together to discuss tobacco control measures in India, with focus on the new 85% warnings and the WNTD 2016 theme - Get Ready for Plain Packaging. Amongst other stakeholders and dignitaries, present on the occasion were Mr Jagat Prakash Nadda, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW); Dr Jagdish Prasad, Director General Health Services, MoHFW; Mr C. K. Mishra, Additional Secretary & Mission Director, MoHFW; Dr Srinath Reddy, President, Public Health Foundation of India; and Dr S. N. Gaur, Director, Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Nadda reiterated the full commitment of the Health Ministry to put in place effective tobacco control measures in the country.
“Greater and optimal synergy between all the stakeholders holds the key to effective tobacco control,” he added.
Emphasizing on prevention of tobacco use amongst school children, he highlighted that youth can act as catalysts for tobacco control. Raising awareness among school students should be the focus – they can be advocates of change for their peers, families and society at large. This can be done effectively through school-based programmes underlining the impact of tobacco use on each organ of the body (heart, arteries, lungs, etc).”
The event saw the launch of the following:
- National Tobacco Cessation Quitline to support users quit services and the release of tobacco control awareness tools,
- Public services advertisements featuring India’s Tobacco Control Ambassador Mr Rahul Dravid,
- Factsheet on tobacco use in India for the youth, and
- Posters on tobacco control measures
In his address, Dr Henk Bekedam said, "Tobacco taxation and health warnings on tobacco packs are best buys for tobacco control. Large pictorial pack warnings increase public awareness of the serious health risks of tobacco use and ensure that the packaging tells the truth about the deadly product within. Tobacco taxation is win-win, both for revenue generation as well as public health.”
The consultation saw active participation and the discussions focused on a broad range of tobacco control issues:Enforcement of pack warnings; effectiveness of 85% pictorial health warning in Indian context (research outcomes); experiences of state government’s in the implementation of tobacco control laws; youth perspective on tobacco control; and plain packaging experience. The panel discussion also focused on understanding the scientific evidence in support of the 85% pictorial health warnings in India and the Australian experience of implementing plain packaging of tobacco products.
The consultation also encouraged and felicitated young participants of the Art4Health campaign, an all India inter-school design competition organised by HRIDAY on behalf of MoHFW and WHO Country Office for India. The campaign was aimed at raising awareness about the dangers of tobacco use and effectiveness of large and graphic pictorial health warnings on tobacco products, amongst the youth. A street play by students on the theme of ‘use of tobacco’ also reflected involvement of youth as advocates of the Tobacco Free Initiative of India.
For this year's World No Tobacco Day, WHO and the Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control are calling on countries to get ready for plain (standardized) packaging of tobacco products. Plain packaging refers to “measures to restrict or prohibit the use of logos, colours, brand images or promotional information on packaging other than brand names and product names displayed in a standard colour and font style (plain packaging).