Centre, States urged to provide more teeth to anti-tobacco laws

Hyderabad: Doctors, public health groups and cancer victims on Wednesday urged the State and Central governments to strengthen the tobacco control laws to reduce the consumption of tobacco and the prevalence of cancer cases considering the recommendation of 139th report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee of Health and Family Welfare (PSCHFW).

According to Indian Council of Medical Research report states that the number of Indian suffering from cancer is likely to experience rise of about 29.8 million in 2025 from 26.7 million in 2022. PSCHFWrecommended to the government formulate effective policies on tobacco control.

The committee recommends that government should formulate strategies to stop the teen population from falling prey to tobacco addiction.

"The consumption of tobacco products has a huge adverse impact on the health of the children, youth and the public at large. The unrestricted and attractive advertisement of tobacco products attracts innocent minds, who are not aware of the adverse consequences of consuming these addictive products.

The proposal to comprehensively ban the advertisement of tobacco products is a welcome move to protect children and youth of impressionable mind", said Bhavna B Mukhopadhyay, chief executive, Voluntary Health Association of India.

Nalini Satyanarayana, a passive smoking victim voiced her suffering as a cancer victim to draw attention to the sufferings of non-smokers due to secondhand smoke. Exposure to passive smoking risks the lives of thousands of non-smokers by exposing them to the smoke of cigarettes. COTPA act needs to be amended, to not permit smoking in any premises, and make it completely smoke-free in the best interest of the public health," appeals Nalini, who was diagnosed with throat cancer 8 years ago.