Last August, the World Lung Foundation was involved in the production and launch of a powerful ad campaign featuring Sunita Tomar, a 27-year-old mother of two suffering from oral cancer. Tomar’s cancer was caused by her use of chewing tobacco in the mistaken belief – created by tobacco industry misinformation – that it would improve her dental health. She declared that if she had been aware of the actual health risks of her habit she would never have used tobacco and bravely agreed to feature in the campaign to warn others so they did not have to share her fate.
Soon after, Dr Harsh Vardhan, who was the Union Minister of Health at the time, announced that India would adopt graphic warnings covering 85% of tobacco packs from April 1. Large graphic warnings and hard-hitting mass media campaigns are proven to be highly effective ways of warning people about the health harms of tobacco, irrespective of the audience’s level of literacy. Tomar’s wish – for Indians to be better informed about the health risks of consuming tobacco in any form, so they did not suffer tobacco-related ill-health – seemed to be a step closer.
Tomar’s battle with cancer ended on Wednesday, leaving her husband a widower and her two young sons without a mother. The day before she died, we had learned that the introduction of large graphic warnings for tobacco has been shelved. Tomar's story shows exactly why a delay in implementing large graphic warnings is the wrong decision for families across India.
Hiding information
The tobacco industry knows that its products are scientifically proven to be fatal to over half and as many as two-thirds of users. It pedals these lethal products while doing all it can to prevent people – especially youth - from learning about the real harms of tobacco and this is why it has spent so much effort in lobbying our government to delay graphic warnings. To protect its profits, the tobacco industry needs hundreds of thousands of India’s young people to start using tobacco, unaware of the danger, to replace those existing consumers who die as a result of their habit. And the industry succeeds in its mission - over 2.5 million children in India smoke tobacco every day. Tomar became become one of the 112 people who die from tobacco-related causes in India every hour, which adds up to more than a million people every year.
As well as preventing awareness of the harms of tobacco, the tobacco industry spreads misinformation downplaying the connection between tobacco and ill health in India and linking tobacco control to economic harm from livelihoods that could be lost. Conveniently, the industry’s arguments fail to acknowledge the terrible economic harm caused by tobacco itself. Tobacco costs the Indian economy Rs 104,500 crores each year in healthcare and other expenses. As the number of tobacco users increases, the health and economic harm of tobacco also increases, and that figure will only continue to rise if we do not curb tobacco consumption through the adoption of large graphic health warnings and other proven tobacco control policies.
From a scientific, health and economic perspective, graphic warnings make sense. Our government should implement them without further delay.
Nandita Murukulta is the Country Director, India, and Director – Global Research and Evaluation of the World Lung Foundation.
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Soon after, Dr Harsh Vardhan, who was the Union Minister of Health at the time, announced that India would adopt graphic warnings covering 85% of tobacco packs from April 1. Large graphic warnings and hard-hitting mass media campaigns are proven to be highly effective ways of warning people about the health harms of tobacco, irrespective of the audience’s level of literacy. Tomar’s wish – for Indians to be better informed about the health risks of consuming tobacco in any form, so they did not suffer tobacco-related ill-health – seemed to be a step closer.
Tomar’s battle with cancer ended on Wednesday, leaving her husband a widower and her two young sons without a mother. The day before she died, we had learned that the introduction of large graphic warnings for tobacco has been shelved. Tomar's story shows exactly why a delay in implementing large graphic warnings is the wrong decision for families across India.
Hiding information
The tobacco industry knows that its products are scientifically proven to be fatal to over half and as many as two-thirds of users. It pedals these lethal products while doing all it can to prevent people – especially youth - from learning about the real harms of tobacco and this is why it has spent so much effort in lobbying our government to delay graphic warnings. To protect its profits, the tobacco industry needs hundreds of thousands of India’s young people to start using tobacco, unaware of the danger, to replace those existing consumers who die as a result of their habit. And the industry succeeds in its mission - over 2.5 million children in India smoke tobacco every day. Tomar became become one of the 112 people who die from tobacco-related causes in India every hour, which adds up to more than a million people every year.
As well as preventing awareness of the harms of tobacco, the tobacco industry spreads misinformation downplaying the connection between tobacco and ill health in India and linking tobacco control to economic harm from livelihoods that could be lost. Conveniently, the industry’s arguments fail to acknowledge the terrible economic harm caused by tobacco itself. Tobacco costs the Indian economy Rs 104,500 crores each year in healthcare and other expenses. As the number of tobacco users increases, the health and economic harm of tobacco also increases, and that figure will only continue to rise if we do not curb tobacco consumption through the adoption of large graphic health warnings and other proven tobacco control policies.
From a scientific, health and economic perspective, graphic warnings make sense. Our government should implement them without further delay.
Nandita Murukulta is the Country Director, India, and Director – Global Research and Evaluation of the World Lung Foundation.
