THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Citing increasing incidence of diseases like oral cancer, the Congress-led UDF Government in Kerala today announced a ban on the manufacture and sale of gutka and pan masala containing tobacco in the state with immediate effect.

Announcing the decision at a press conference here, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the ban on gutka and pan masala containing tobacco and nicotine was enforced under the provisions of Food Safety and Standards Regulation Act, 2011.

Tobacco-related diseases killed as many as 100,000 people every year and nearly 1,200 children start smoking every day in Pakistan because of government inaction, health experts agreed on Tuesday.

They were addressing a seminar on the 'Role of Media for Advancing Tobacco Control'.

Criticising the government inaction on tobacco control laws, Project Co-ordinator of the Network for Consumer Protection Dr Hussan Mehmood said that around 40 percent men and 9 percent women smoked in Pakistan.

Assam is likely to be the first state in the country to expand the central anti-tobacco campaign to all its districts, with Jorhat as the role model. Satisfied with the performance of the National Tobacco Control Programme in Jorhat, the Centre has asked the state government to start the drive in other districts, propping the Jorhat district cell as a role model.

Most of the smokers feel encouraged to keep on this bad habit because of easy availability and comparatively lower prices of tobacco products, says a survey report.
The government’s present and former officials, who attended the launch of the report, however, said it was not always possible to reduce the rate of smoking only by increasing prices of cigarettes while awareness was much more necessary in this regard.
The programme was organised by the Campaign for Clean Air at the BIAM Foundation auditorium in the capital on Friday.

Tobacco use is one of the leading preventable causes of death. The global tobacco epidemic kills nearly 6 million people each year. More than 600,000 people are exposed to passive smoking. Unless the countries take action promptly to arrest tobacco use, the death rate will rise to eight million people by 2030. Of them more than 80 per cent live in low and middle-income countries," Professor Carlo Fonseka told The Island.

Bulgaria's parliament has adopted a total ban on smoking in indoor public places, after earlier attempts failed due to strong opposition from restaurant owners.

The ban, which was approved yesterday and comes into force on June 1, has stirred discontent among many Bulgarians, at least 40 percent of whom are believed to smoke.

Bulgaria's smoky restaurants and cafes are at the heart of the social life in this traditional, tobacco-growing country of 7.3 million people.

Jorhat, April 29: Asam Sahitya Sabha, the premier literary organisation of the state has decided to join the anti-tobacco campaign of the state tobacco control cell. Sabha general secretary Paramananda Rajbonshi told The Telegraph over phone from Guwahati today that since tobacco is consumed as part of social traditions in Assamese society, a strong campaign is needed to educate people about its harmful effects.

ALLAHABAD: The Allahabad high court in an important direction has directed the state government to now consider the appropriateness of restricting the consumption, sale and distribution of tobacco and nicotine in food products on the same lines as the MP government has already put restrictions on the consumption, sale and distribution of the tobacco and nicotine in food products.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has directed schools and other educational institutions to stop the sale of tobacco and other tobacco products within 100 yards of any educational institutions and also to minors. The civic administration will now take stringent steps to ensure that no tobacco products are sold outside school and college campuses.

The BMC has directed that licence of all vendors, hawkers or shopkeepers found selling tobacco products near the vicinity of schools and colleges should be revoked.