Tobacco kills, while government dilly-dallies on warnings
MUMBAI: Around two weeks ago, the Union health ministry's announcement to defer the implementation of pictorial warnings on tobacco products by a year angered people across the country. Because, yet again, anti-tobacco activists felt that their fight against a deadly ailment-cancer-had met with another defeat from corporate lobbying.
While activists said the government had obviously succumbed to industry pressure, an RTI query revealed the flimsy grounds on which the ministry allowed tobacco giants more time to carry mandatory pictorial warnings, which are a proven deterrent to tobacco consumption. The government had notified manufacturers that from December 1, 2010, all tobacco products must carry gory pictures like a diseased mouth and teeth, instead of tame ones like an X-ray plate of the chest or a scorpion.
The RTI application was filed by a Delhi-based social worker. The response to it revealed how cigarette giant ITC and tobacco product associations joined hands to push the deadline simply by stating technical difficulties in redesigning packets. In their letter to the ministry, they cited hiccups like procuring printing cylinders from abroad and incurring substantial expenditure in changing packet designs. They also said changing the designs would mean shutting down their plants for days, which would result in "significant loss of revenue to the country and the exchequer".
While the manufacturers asked for a deadline extension of 10 months, the health ministry granted them a year to carry the warnings. A spokesperson from ITC acknowledged that the firm had written to the ministry, but declined further comment.
Keshav Desiraju, additional secretary in the ministry, said: "We had to take into consideration certain issues of the industry as various stakes are involved, besides health concerns." He said implementation of the new pictorial warnings by December 11, 2011 will be difficult.
Read more: Tobacco kills, while government dilly-dallies on warnings - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Tobacco-kills-while-government-dilly-dallies-on-warnings/articleshow/7232552.cms#ixzz1AMV0wGOB
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