The Indian Government`s New Effort to Reduce Tobacco Consumption

Today (31ST May) is World No Tobacco Day; a packet full of cigarette is in my hand and morning newspaper on the table. The news hovering around and raises many questions in my mind. Will Indian government with its recent step be able to break the chain of chain smokers? Will it prove to be a danger alarm successfully changing the minds of smokers? Time will prove; let us focus on the news.

In India alone, almost 9 lacks of people are becoming victims of diseases due to tobacco consumption every year, out of which 1.5 lacks are suffering from cancer, 4 lacks from heart diseases and 3.5 lacks fro other various deadly diseases. In India, one third of total cancer patients are the victims of tobacco consumptions.              

Some facts about tobacco:

• Tobacco has almost 4,000 very harmful compounds that can cause various killer diseases.
• Smoking a single cigarette can steal seven minutes of your life.
• The number of deaths due to tobacco consumption is 15 times higher than the suicidal deaths and murders.

 It was only the last year Indian government had decided to pass an order in order to bind the tobacco manufacturers in India to print pictorial warning on their products regarding the health hazards due to tobacco consumptions. That was of the picture of lungs and a scorpion on the pack of tobacco products instead of written warning, “Smoking is injurious to health”. At that time government has to put the papers in pending due to the stiff resistance by the tobacco producers. But this time the determined government has done it successfully on the World No Tobacco Day 2009.Now it is up to time and would be very early to say some thing about it’s impact on smoker’s mind, but it is sure that the products carrying the pictures of lungs and scorpion would prove a good reminder and early warning to those people who generally undermine the written warnings that are in hardly visible fonts on the bottom of the product’s packs.