Centre's dilly-dallying stumps health experts

Hyderabad: In an unexpected development, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare deferred the implementation of the new pictorial health warnings on tobaccopackages. This concession has come off as a huge shock to public health experts as there has been an extensive pan India drive to discourage tobacco use to contain the spread of Covid-19. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued a notification on April 13, 2020 notifying new sets of specified pictorial health warnings on all tobacco products from September 1, 2020. However, it issued another notification on July 21 delaying the implementation of new pictorial health warnings from September 1, 2020 to December 1, 2020.

The fact is that similar notification was issued in April with the same images, however, in the new notification the warning has been watered down by extending the date of implementation and by removing the definition of package.

A two-page advisory was also issued by the Health Ministry earlier in which it was highlighted that smoking cigarettes, tobacco, pan masala like products during the Covid epidemic can increase risk and severity of pulmonary infections because of damage to upper airways and a decrease in pulmonary immune function.In India 27 crore adults use tobacco and it kills more than 13 lakhs users every year. Pictorial health warnings on tobacco products are the most cost-effective tool for educating on the health risks of tobacco use,

"By delaying the next round of pictorial warnings on tobacco products, the Health Ministry is not only contradicting its own advisory to hold back tobacco use during the Covid pandemic, it is adversely impacting the motivation of tobacco users to quit while being in a conducive environment socially. As quitting in higher numbers definitely reduces the demand of tobacco products, is this repeat deferment under pressure of the tobacco industry or its front groups" Dr Rakesh Gupta, consultant, Tobacco Cessation.