India Committed to Reducing Tobacco Production: Minister

Source from:  UNI 09/21/2009

Reiterating that India was committed to bringing down tobacco production, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Dinesh Trivedi today said there was a need to focus on finding alternative livelihood for millions of farmers and cottage industry workers, engaged in tobacco related activities. He said apart from the health dimensions of tobacco consumption, there was a need to concentrate on helping the farmers and workers find alternate employment. In order to provide them with viable economic opportunities, the Ministry is collaborating with Central Tobacco Research Institute and Directorate of Agricultural Research and Extension to establish viable and sustainable alternatives to tobacco crops, he said at the inaugural session of First meeting of the Working Group under Articles 17-18 of WHO FrameWork Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). He said the Ministry is also in touch with Ministries of Labour and Finance to develop skills-based vocational training for bidi rollers. "Internationally also India is one of the pioneers in signing FCTC and containing sustained collaboration with WHO and other International Organisations," he said. He admitted that the tobacco lobby has used this as a pretext to stall many serious steps to curb the tobacco menace in the country. Outlining various initiatives of the Government to control tobacco consumption which kills about nine lakh people annually in the country, Mr Trivedi informed that India has enacted comprehensive legislations to curb smoking. WHO-FCTC is the only International Public Health Treaty negotiated under the auspices of the World Health Organisation (WHO). India along with 168 countries have ratified the FCTC. The WHO-FCTC has identified key strategies for reduction in demand and supply of tobacco products. The key demand reduction strategies include price tax measures and non-price measures (ban on smoking in public places, comprehensive ban on advertisement, promotion and sponsorship, statutory warnings, tobacco product regulations and others). Likewise, key supply reduction strategies include combating illicit trade, alternative livelihood to tobacco workers, alternate cropping, etc. Articles 17 & 18 of the WHO-FCTC form one of the core supply reduction strategy of FCTC. It envisages for economically viable alternative activities to tobacco crop and manufacturing of tobacco products, protection of environment and health of the person in respect of tobacco collectors and manufacturers. There is an urgent need to look at the supply reduction strategies, as these are the most difficult strategies to implement due to challenges from other stakeholders (farmers, tobacco workers, bidi rollers). These stakeholders would become hurdles to any tobacco control efforts, if their concerns are not addressed. Enditem