India: Tobacco Sellers Aggressively Marketing Products at Sale Points: PGI Study

Source from:  Times of India 02/05/2015

While India's tobacco control legislation prohibits tobacco advertisement, promotion and sponsorship (TAPS), tobacco sellers often use the provision to allow ads at sale points to 'aggressively' market tobacco products and lure youngsters in the process - often flouting the required norms and don't even display adequate health warnings.

A study conducted by a team of doctors from PGI has found that points of sale (POS) openly flout Section 5 of India's tobacco control legislation Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003. COTPA's provision to permit advertisements at POSes is exploited by the tobacco companies to promote their products, it found.

The study headed by Sonu Goel was conducted in 3 cities of India - Mohali, Vadodara and Chennai. It found that despite ban on advertisements of tobacco products, sale point advertising was mushrooming without adequate health warnings, as required by COTPA. Enditem