India: New Anti-Tobacco Advertisement Unveiled

Source from:  The Hindu 06/09/2014

Advancing its fight against tobacco, the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has recently unveiled a new four-minute video titled The Price We Pay to highlight the health and economic impacts of tobacco consumption.

The film, developed with technical support from the World Lung Foundation, explains how tobacco ruins lives and livelihoods, using footage of tobacco-related suffering and death captured at the Tata Memorial Hospital's Cancer Ward. It also calls for increased taxes on tobacco products to dissuade the public from consuming them. The Price We Pay features interviews with several victims of tobacco use. Patients and their families speak about the devastating poverty that can be inflicted on a family when the main breadwinner gets sick or dies from tobacco-related diseases.

Among the costs incurred are enormous hospital and treatment expenses, loss of income and the loss of economic prospects and aspirations for the next generation.

makes a case for implementing strong tobacco control policies such as hard-hitting graphic health warnings and higher tobacco taxes. Produced in collaboration with HEALIS, the film will be widely used for World No Tobacco Day events and will also be circulated online.

The Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS-India) identifies that 27.5 crore people consume tobacco in India.

World Lung Foundation country director Dr. Nandita Murukutla said: "The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare continues to be a strong ally in the fight against tobacco in India and the new film gives it another way to counter the misperception that tobacco use is benign. The Price We Pay clearly articulates the immense physical suffering and economic burden that can strike a tobacco user and his family."

A significant body of scientific evidence shows hard-hitting campaigns can compel tobacco users to quit, increase knowledge of its health risks, and promote behaviour change in both smokers and non-smokers.

"We are confident that intense campaigns such as The Price We Pay can make a huge impact if we can get them on air," said Dr. Pankaj Chaturvedi, a senior cancer surgeon from the Tata Memorial Hospital and a strong anti-tobacco activist. Enditem