Vardhan seeks total ban on tobacco production
8 Oct 2014 11:14 PM GMT
Considering the manifold increase in the consumption of tobacco products posing a major threat to life, Vardhan has also asked Singh to participate in a brainstorming-cum-consultation session for developing a scheme to rehabilitate tobacco cultivators without any economic loss to them. The meeting is scheduled for 29 October.
In the letter written on 1 October, which is also observed as International Day of Older Persons, the health minister said, ‘It’s a well-known fact that tobacco is one of the most important public health problems and in India, tobacco consumption is responsible for nearly one million deaths each year,’ adding that most of these deaths and suffering are preventable.
As per the Health Ministry data, India is the second-largest consumer as well as producer of tobacco in the world. As per figures available for 2008-09, more than 85 per cent of the area under tobacco cultivation is centred in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat, accounting for more than nearly two thirds of tobacco production in the country.
The health minister also said that being a signatory to the declaration adopted by the UN General Assembly on the call given for reduction in the consumption of tobacco, the government is committed to implement strategies for effective tobacco control.
The health ministry has also written to the governments of all the states and union territories to strictly implement the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011, dated 1 August 2011, which prohibits the use of nicotine and tobacco in food products. The states and union territories of Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Chandigarh and Mizoram have issued orders/notifications for implementation of the provisions of the food safety and standards regulations under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
The Supreme Court in August had also issued a notice to the government on a PIL seeking a complete ban on the production of cigarettes and other tobacco products across the country. An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice RM Lodha had said it was for the lawmakers to decide. Appealing for the petitioner filmmaker Sunil Rajpal, counsel Aditya Agrawal, told the court that the money spent on the treatment of smoking-related ailments comes to about Rs 30,000 crore per annum which flies in the face of revenue earning arguments on not banning the tobacco industry.
In the letter written on 1 October, which is also observed as International Day of Older Persons, the health minister said, ‘It’s a well-known fact that tobacco is one of the most important public health problems and in India, tobacco consumption is responsible for nearly one million deaths each year,’ adding that most of these deaths and suffering are preventable.
As per the Health Ministry data, India is the second-largest consumer as well as producer of tobacco in the world. As per figures available for 2008-09, more than 85 per cent of the area under tobacco cultivation is centred in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat, accounting for more than nearly two thirds of tobacco production in the country.
The health minister also said that being a signatory to the declaration adopted by the UN General Assembly on the call given for reduction in the consumption of tobacco, the government is committed to implement strategies for effective tobacco control.
The health ministry has also written to the governments of all the states and union territories to strictly implement the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011, dated 1 August 2011, which prohibits the use of nicotine and tobacco in food products. The states and union territories of Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Chandigarh and Mizoram have issued orders/notifications for implementation of the provisions of the food safety and standards regulations under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
The Supreme Court in August had also issued a notice to the government on a PIL seeking a complete ban on the production of cigarettes and other tobacco products across the country. An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice RM Lodha had said it was for the lawmakers to decide. Appealing for the petitioner filmmaker Sunil Rajpal, counsel Aditya Agrawal, told the court that the money spent on the treatment of smoking-related ailments comes to about Rs 30,000 crore per annum which flies in the face of revenue earning arguments on not banning the tobacco industry.
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