Bengaluru: The 85% pictorial warning on cigarette packets are here to stay and if the manufacturers are caught bypassing the order, they will be heavily penalized and the products seized.
On May 4th the Supreme Court directed the tobacco industry to adhere to rules requiring stringent health warnings on cigarette packs. It also ordered the Karnataka High Court to hear all pleas challenging the same.
The order has been hailed by health experts, who have been pushing for bigger pictorial warnings. "Earlier it was a 40% pictorial warning, which means 60% promotion. This also means you promote more than you warn. It is a lethal product and it is the consumer's right to know everything about the product," says Dr Vishal Rao, Consultant Oncologist - Head and Neck Surgeon, Health Care Global (HCG) Cancer Center who is a Member of the High Powered Committee, Tobacco Control Government of Karnataka.
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Also, the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project (“ITC”), an international cohort study that surveys adult smokers in nineteen countries, provides much of the evidence for health warnings.
According to ITC research, adult and youth smokers report that large, comprehensive warnings reduce smoking consumption, raise the motivation to quit and increase the likelihood that they will remain abstinent following a ‘quitting’ attempt.
Experts believe that this move would bring down the new customer base added every year by the industry. "One lakh customers are lost every year, so they need more customers and hence this order of a huge pictorial warning will have a big impact on new consumers. So it is a huge victory," says Dr Vishal.
Health warnings on cigarette packs inform smokers about the health hazards of smoking, encourage smokers to quit, and prevent nonsmokers from starting to smoke. Warnings on tobacco products are an ideal way of communicating with smokers because they pair the warning directly with smoking behavior.
According to a study, 'Tobacco Warning Labels: Evidence of Effectiveness' there has been evidence from countries such as Uruguay, that have increased the size of their warnings even further. This has shown greater effectiveness, including thinking about the risks of smoking, thinking about quitting and abstaining having a cigarette “many times”. It was also found that smokers report greater recall of warnings that appear on the front, compared to the side, of packages.
