Pictorial warning: NGO welcomes move

CHANDIGARH: Citizens Awareness Group, a city-based

NGO

, has welcomed the decision of the health ministry of replacing the existing images on tobacco products and has now released a new set of 85% pictorial health warnings for mandatory display on both sides of the packets of cigarettes, bidis and chewing tobacco with effect from September 1, 2018.

Government of India, for the first time introduced quit line number to be printed on the packs of all tobacco products. Surinder Verma, chairman of the NGO said, "As per the notification, during the rotation period, two images of specified health warnings, as notified in the schedule, shall be displayed on all tobacco product packs and each of the images shall appear consecutively on the package with an interregnum period of 12 months."

Ashim

Sanyal

at the Consumer VOICE, a voluntary group of academicians, professionals and volunteers said, "The recently released

Global Adult Tobacco Survey

(GATS) 2016-17 by Union ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW) has put to rest all apprehensions about the effectiveness of the warnings, since 62% of cigarette smokers and 54% of bidi smokers shared that they had thought of quitting because of the 85% pictorial warnings on the packets." "And 46% of smokeless tobacco users thought of quitting because of the warnings on smokeless tobacco products."