India: Experts Push for Blanket Ban on Tobacco Promotion

Source from:  New Indian Express (in)  05/27/2013

Pointing to the widespread impact of advertisements that encourage the use of tobacco and related products, health and legal experts gathered in the city recently to advocate the need for a comprehensive ban on such promotional activities in the State.

The theme of the 2013 World No Tobacco Day (May 31) is 'Ban Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship'.

Speaking at a news conference, Jayna Kothari, Senior Advocate of Karnataka High Court, said the initiatives taken by the Health Department to curb tobacco use have been bogged down by the mandate that the Indian Tobacco Board, a statutory body under the Union Ministry of Commerce, has to promote growth of tobacco industry. She stated that reforms are required in the mandate of this board. 

Explaining different forms of surrogate advertising of tobacco, Dr Ashok Patil from the Chair on Consumer Law and Practice, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), stressed that Section 5 of the National Tobacco Control Legislation (Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act - COTPA) and Article 13 of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention for Tobacco Control on prohibition of brand promotion of all tobacco products must be implemented.

Dr Upendra Bhojani, faculty, Institute of Public Health (IPH), said tobacco companies are promoting life-threatening tobacco products in a strategic manner on the pretext of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities of companies, donations and social events.

"There is a need to look closely at CSR activities done by such companies and analyse the conflict of interests arising there," he said.

Dr Bhojani also recollected how a litigation by the IPH forced Indian Tobacco Board to withdraw a financial sponsorship and support to a global tobacco company event scheduled in Bangalore in past.

He rued that a directive by the Karnataka High Court to the Union government to formulate a code of conduct for public officials on how they should deal with the tobacco industry is still in its draft stages.

Dr Vishal Rao, Senior Consultant, Surgical Oncologist, BGS Global Hospitals, said the inclusion of tobacco control chapter into school textbooks and empowering the Education Department with reporting mechanisms have been a few milestones achieved in the past year in tobacco control measures.

"In the past year, COTPA violations were included by the Police Department in the monthly crime reports and a high-powered committee was instituted for controlling the use of tobacco across the state," he said. Enditem