Issue 12
Tobacco Control in India
Fortnightly News Summary
NATIONAL HEADLINES
♦ Health Minister’s anti-smoking crusade wins
overwhelming support in metros
In what may sound music to the ears of Health Minister
Anbumani Ramadoss, his anti-smoking crusade has won
overwhelming support in a survey carried out by Voluntary
Health Association of India (VHAI) and Healis Sekhsaria
Institute for Public Health, in the four metros of the
country. A near unanimous majority of Indians -- 98 per
cent -- support prohibition of smoking in public places,
including workplaces, restaurants and bars. (Source: Zee
News: 6 March 2009)
♦ India hosts major world anti-tobacco conference
India next week hosts a major world tobacco control
conference, bringing experts from across the globe at a
time of mounting concern about smoking in developing
countries and among women. Organisers of the 14th
World Conference on Tobacco or Health hope the five-day
event in Mumbai from Sunday will help develop new
strategies to tackle a public health problem that claims 5.4
million lives a year worldwide
(Source: AFP News: 6 March 2009)
♦ Majority of Indians favour smoke-free workplaces:
survey
A near unanimous majority of Indians - 99 percent - favour
a prohibition of smoking in public places, including
workplaces, restaurants and bars, and demand stringent
enforcement of rules to check smoking in offices, a survey
has found. (Source: IANS News: 27 February 2009)
♦ More no-Tobacco Days demanded in India
An Indian anti-smoking group at a conference here is
lobbying to garner support for more No-Tobacco Days in
the country. Every year, May 31 is observed as an
international No-Tobacco Day but Aligarh-based Students'
Movement Against Tobacco and Smoking (SMATS) says
Indian students miss activities on the day as most schools
in the country are closed for summer vaccations. (Source:
The Hindu: 8 March 2009)
♦ Now, hookah bars in Ramadoss line of fire
After targeting smokers and tipplers, Union Health
Minister Anbumani Ramadoss has the hookah bars on his
radar and asked the Maharashtra government to close
them down as they were violating the law.“Shops having
hookah bars have to comply with the law of the land,” he
said at the ‘Corporate Leaders meet on worksite
wellnesss initiative’, a part of the World Congress on
Tabacco or Health. (Source: Hindustan Times: 10 March 2009)
♦ Pfizer to set up 600 smoking cessation clinics in 2
years
Pfizer India plans to launch 600 smoking cessation clinics
across the country in the next two years in partnership
with private sector hospitals and clinics. Pfizer India
director (pharmaceutical marketing) Anjan Sen said: “We
have already tied up with 150 clinics in 17 cities, including
Max Healthcare, and are in talks with more hospitals for
partnerships. We are also in talks with the government to
Provided by the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use
27 February-13 March 2009
use this as a treatment option in the 600 clinics that they
plan to set up.” (Source: The Economic Times: 10 March 2009)
STATE HEADLINES, New Delhi
♦ Pictorial warnings on tobacco products soon"
The 14th World Conference on Tobacco or Health
(WCOTH) was inaugurated by Maharashtra Governor
S.C. Jamir at the National Centre for the Performing Arts
on Sunday.Union Health and Family Welfare Minister
'Anbumani Ramadoss, who addressed the gathering said
that despite the efforts of the government and many non-
governmental organisations, implementation of World
Health Organisation's (WHO) Framework Convention Alli-
ance for Tobacco Control , which India has ratified, has
been delayed due to political and non-political pressures.
(Source: The Hindu: New Delhi, Delhi: 9 March 2009)
♦ Health minister’s anti-smoking crusade wins
overwhelming support in metros
In what may sound music to the ears of Health Minister
Anbumani Ramadoss, his anti-smoking crusade has won
overwhelming support in a survey carried out by Voluntary
Health Association of India (VHAI) and Healis Sekhsaria
Institute for Public Health, in the four metros of the
country. A near unanimous majority of Indians -- 98 per
cent -- support prohibition of smoking in public places,
including workplaces, restaurants and bars, the survey
released by Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI)
and Healis Sekhsaria Institute for Public Health said.
(Source: Zee News, New Delhi, Delhi: 27 February 2009)
♦ 229 million males in India consume tobacco
Over 11 million Indian women use tobacco while 5 million
smoke cigarettes or bidis and 6 million others chew it. As
a result, female smokers in India die an average of eight
years earlier than their non-smoking peers. India is also
the third leading producer of leaf tobacco, after China and
Brazil. Over one lakh hectares of land is devoted to
growing tobacco. These are the findings of the world's
latest `Tobacco Atlas', which will be released in Mumbai
on Monday. (Source: The Times of India, New Delhi, Delhi: 9 March
2009)
♦ Tobacco drains $500 bn from global economy per
year'
OVER 27 per cent of Indians smoke tobacco in one form
or the other (beedi, cigarette, etc), says the third edition of
Tobacco Atlas released online on Saturday. Published by
the World Lung Foundation and the American Cancer
Society, the Atlas portrays a comprehensive volume of
research on tobacco. (Source: The Times of India, New Delhi, Delhi:
10 March 2009)
♦ Record prices push tobacco exports up 62% till Jan
Tobacco shipment from India, the third-largest exporter in
the world, shot up by about 62 per cent to reach Rs 2,561
crore till January this fiscal, aided by a surge in prices
overseas and weakening rupee. . “India exported tobacco
worth Rs 2,560.71 crore between April and January
against Rs 1,573.93 crore in the same period last year,'' a
senior Tobacco Board official said. However, tobacco
exports, comprising raw tobacco and its products, rose 12
 Issue 12
per cent in volume terms to 1,83,605 tonnes between April
2008 and January 2009, compared with 1,64,117 tonnes
in the year-ago period, he said. (Source: The Hindu Business
Line, New Delhi, Delhi: 3 March 2009)

Provided by the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use