Experts welcome passage of Prohibition of E-Cigarette Bill

Hyderabad: Health experts have welcomed the passage of Prohibition of e-Cigarettes Bill, 2019 in Parliament.

Bhavna B Mukhopadhyay, chief executive of Voluntary Health Association of India said that "with the passage of the Bill in Parliament to ban e-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery devices is a welcome move that will help protect our people, especially the youth and children from the risk of addiction through e-cigarettes and the like devices. This will go a long way in saving millions of lives."

Dr A Srikanth, secretary Indian Dental Association, Deccan Branch said that "e-cigarettes pose significant health risks to users that are frighteningly similar to those of conventional cigarettes and it is a welcome move that it is banned in the interest of public health."

India has the second largest number of tobacco users (268 million or 28.6% of all adults in India) in the world – of these at least 12 lakh die every year from tobacco related diseases.

The total direct and indirect cost of diseases attributable to tobacco use was a staggering Rs 1.04 lakh crore ($17 billion) in 2011 or 1.16% of India's GDP.