Marketing and promotion of tobacco products contribute towards killing more people by encouraging current smokers to smoke more and decreasing their motivation to quit. They also help to attract new tobacco users to increase their consumer base. Pictorial health warnings on tobacco products are intended to increase consumer knowledge of the deadly health effects of tobacco consumption, to encourage cessation and to discourage uptake. Pictorial health warnings are an effective tool internationally to combat tobacco addiction.

UPVHA, Executive Director J. P. Sharma welcomed all the guests and media participants and said, that tobacco is a serious health issue. The Government of India has enacted the “Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertising and Regulation of Trade and Commerce Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, COTPA 2003” to curb the consumption of cigarettes and other tobacco products. Health Ministry had notified the rules on 31 May 2005 effective from 1st January 2006 to enforce the provision of the act. The Rules envisage stringent action by the state government against advertisement of smoking and other tobacco products. He also said that “one of the primary objectives of media sensitization workshop is to let the media know about the Pictorial Warnings on tobacco products.”

The workshop was inaugurated by Senior Superintendent of Police Lucknow, Shri Raghuvar Lal who said “the police department is trying hard to implement the tobacco control laws. He said that if we give up tobacco products, then it can perhaps inspire more people to follow suit.” He requested UPVHA to organize such workshops for Police Department on COTPA 2003. He appreciated the efforts taken by the UPVHA in the field of tobacco control.

Speaking on the role of the youth and tobacco, tobacco control activist Amit Dwivedi said that the biggest consumers of tobacco products are the youth. To woo the youth, tobacco companies use a variety of medium. Youth may not believe that tobacco is addictive or harmful. Most youth believe that they can quit using tobacco products whenever they would like to.

After the workshop, the media interacted with the experts and raised several concerns. The workshop was concluded with a vote of thanks by Executive Director UPVHA with a request to media and administration representative work together to make the Lucknow “Smoke Free.”

Pictorial health warnings on tobacco products increase consumer awareness of the deadly health effects of tobacco consumption, to encourage cessation and to discourage uptake. Pictorial health warnings are an effective tool internationally to combat tobacco addiction.

RVHA Programme Coordinator, PAT & APPLE Project Narendra Singh welcomed all the guests and media participants and said tobacco is a serious health issue.

Dr Rakesh Gupta, India Consultant, American Cancer Society spoke on the international perspective on pictorial warnings. He gave a few examples on the implementation of pictorial warnings on some countries. A. P. Sinha, Programme Officer, Media, VHAI, New Delhi, spoke on pictorial warnings and briefed the gathering on the necessity of implementing such warnings on packages of tobacco products.

He also spoke on the pack warning litigation filed by Health For Millions Trust, a sister concern of the Voluntary Health Association of India. He also mentioned that the Union of India and two leading tobacco companies were the respondents in the case. He said that Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium gave an undertaking in the court on 6 May that pictorial warnings on packages of tobacco products would be mandatory after 31 May 2009.

He interacted with the media and answered their queries on various aspects of pictorial warnings as well as on tobacco control.

Dr. Virendra Singh, Head, Deptt of Asthma & Respiratory Disease, SMS Medical College, Jaipur said that tobacco affects the health of the individuals.

Dr. D. K. Ameta. State Nodal Officer, Tobacco Control Cell of Rajasthan delivered a lecture on law enforcement and tobacco control. He also said that the state government is all geared up to tackle violations of various provisions of the Indian Tobacco Control Law.

Mr Narendra Singh spoke on the role of the media in tobacco control and said that the media has a very important role in helping in the enforcement of the laws. He said that the petitions filed under the Right to Information Act (RTIs) are significant in the tobacco control.

He also said that RVHA has filed over 100 RTI pleas with the Rajasthan government.

Once the lectures and presentations were over, the assembled media personnel had a question answer session with the panelists. Some of the media personnel wanted to know about the latest warnings which would be displayed on packages of tobacco products.

The workshop concluded with a request to media and administration representative to help in making the Pink City – Jaipur, smoke free.

A number of newspapers, both in English and Hindi, covered the event prominently.

The electronic media covered the press conference and E.T.V, Bhaskar TV, Patrika TV, DGI and DD I highlighted the event in their news headlines.