Taking the right step to deter those who fag, the Union Health Ministry on March 10, issued the final guidelines to carry pictorial warning on all tobacco products from June 24.
According to a notification 40% of the space on tobacco packs should come with pictorial warning and the warnings will be changed in every 12 months.
The notification has specified that the warning “Smoking Kills” on cigarette and beedi products and “Tobacco Kills” on smokeless or chewing tobacco products to be appear in white font on a red background, while every specified health message will be in bold black font on a white background.
It mentioned, “Each health warning has been specified in English and regional languages. Not more than two languages can be used on a single pack. Every person engaged directly or indirectly in the production, supply, import and distribution of tobacco products should ensure that every package has the specified health warning. The warnings will have to occupy 40% of the principal display area of the pack. None of the elements of the specified warning are severed, covered or hidden in any manner when the packet is sealed. No package can be sold unless it carries the health warnings.”
The ministry has directed that beedi and cigarette pack should carry photo either of infected human lings or an X-ray of the chest of a man affected by cancer and smokeless tobacco products with image of scorpion portraying cancer.
But many specialists feel that using mild pictorial warning will serve no purpose like those harsher one depicting horrific images of cancerous tumours, rotting teeth and diseased throats.
Earlier also a statutory warning that cigarette is injurious to health was not enough to scared the smokers.
With the increase of death due to use of tobacco product, the need of pictorial warning too has increased by many folds where a major percentage of smokers belong to uneducated and poor category but we also have people who are educated and for them smoking is a style statement.
Using pictorial warning will be a right step to empower the consumer by making them aware of the ill effects of smoking which is still glamorised in our advertisements and by celebrities.
Using pictorial graphic in many countries has helped reducing the smoking populations and let’s hope that these warning will be able to create enough change in the mindset of people who consume tobacco through several means.
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