Authors: Chaturvedi Pankaj , Sarin Ashima, Seth Sanjay, Gupta PC On 8th June 2017, results from the second Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS 2) of India were released. GATS is a global standard for systematically monitoring adult tobacco use and tracking key tobacco control indicators. India is the world’s largest democracy, and the second largest […]
Category: India
Kerala: India’s first tobacco ad-free state
Rema Sundar, Tobacco Free Kerala Kerala has become the first state in India to become tobacco advertisement free. This major milestone for public health in the country represents strong government commitment, a favourable policy framework, accountability, and engagement by various departments to achieve robust enforcement. The first step was successfully abolishing tobacco advertisements at the points-of-sale […]
Can prohibition work? The case of India’s smokeless tobacco ban
Pankaj Chaturvedi, Sanjay Seth, Prakash C Gupta, Ashima Sarin Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai ‘Bans don’t work’ is a common response to measures to restrict or outlaw tobacco supply. Libertarians decry such measures as excessive ‘nanny state’ intervention; others point to the USA experience of alcohol prohibition in the 1930s, often held up as a failed […]
India: Government consultation to strengthen National Tobacco Control Law
Amit Yadav & Monika Arora, Public Health Foundation of India Two months after announcing larger and stronger pictorial health warnings on all tobacco products, and 10 years after ratifying the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Government of India is proposing to amend and strengthen […]
India: Powerful ‘Voice of Tobacco Victims’ campaign wins BMJ health advocacy award
Pankaj Chaturvedi, Prakash C Gupta, Sanjay Seth, Ashima Sarin Voice of Tobacco Victims Voice of Tobacco Victims Campaign (VOTV) was launched on 31st May 2009 by a dozen cancer survivors of Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai under the leadership of Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi. The campaign aims to make Tobacco Victims (cancer survivors and their relatives) […]
Dirty Secrets… The Smoke-Less Affair
Post written by Shalini 90% of oral cancer cases among Indian men are attributable to tobacco consumption, according to the World Health Organization. Since 2010, India has been engaged in a major war against smokeless or oral tobacco products, including a ban on gutka. Gutka is a popular oral tobacco product that is a highly addictive […]