India steps up fight against cigarette firms over prominence of health warnings on packs
Health ministry’s action highlights a growing conflict between the tobacco industry and the federal government which wants manufacturers to cover 85 per cent of a cigarette pack’s surface in health warnings, up from 20 per cent
India’s health ministry has ordered government agencies to enforce a new rule for bigger health warnings on cigarette packs, stepping up a fight against the country’s US$10 billion cigarette industry that has shut down its factories in protest.
The health ministry’s action highlights a growing conflict between the tobacco industry and the federal government which wants manufacturers to cover 85 per cent of a cigarette pack’s surface in health warnings, up from 20 per cent.
India’s biggest cigarette maker ITC Ltd, part-owned by British American Tobacco, has not implemented the government order, saying it contradicts a parliamentary committee’s recommendation for warnings to cover half a cigarette pack.
K.C. Samria, a joint secretary in the health ministry, wrote to government departments on Monday to ensure strict implementation of the new rules, letters showed.
“The implementation of the rules requires strong support,” Samria said, adding bigger warnings would create awareness about the ill effects of tobacco use.
Smoking kills about one million people in India each year, according to researchers at BMJ Global Health.