NGOs have claimed that recent reports suggesting that one of the pictorial warnings for tobacco products resembles footballer John Terry could be an attempt by the manufacturers to scuttle the pictorial warnings once again.

In a recent RTI filed by the Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI), the issue was brought to the notice of Union health ministry earlier in November by Philip Morris, manufacturer of the leading cigarette brand Marlboro. “However, digging the issue once again now could be a deliberate move by the manufacturers to put the warnings in trouble.”

Himachal Pradesh Voluntary Health Association (HPVHA) - an NGO working to make the state tobacco-free, has come out strongly against state government’s plan to allow beedi and cigarette units to set up base in Hamirpur district. The organisation has alleged that the move will completely jeopardise the drive to discourage smoking and avoid its adverse affects on the health of the people and the environment .

Three years after implementation of the no-smoking rules that came into effect on October 2, 2008, over 42,194 people have been fined/challaned and over Rs.30 lakh has been collected by the Delhi Government from defaulters.

According to the data collected by the Delhi State Tobacco Control Cell, of those challaned, 42,118 were men and 76 were women. The data has been collected from raids made during October 2008 to August 2011.

Government agencies not taking action against defaulters: study

More than five months after the ban on use of plastic pouches for sale of tobacco products came into effect on March 1 this year, small and big manufacturers of pan masala and chewing tobacco are still violating the rule openly, a recent survey by Voluntary Health Association of India and eight other partners has found.

More than five months after the ban on use of plastic pouches containing tobacco products by a Supreme Court verdict came into effect, which stated that manufacturers of gutkha, tobacco and pan masala are restrained from using plastic material in the sachets, the manufacturers of chewing tobacco and pan masala are now violating the rule as found by a recent survey conducted by Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI) and its partner organisations in Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.

More than five months after the Supreme Court issued a ban on the sale of tobacco products in plastic pouches with effect from March 1, all small and big manufacturers of chewing tobacco and pan masala are now violating the rule openly.

The Chief Ministers of 11 States have pledged their support to fight the growing menace of tobacco products like gutka and khaini .
The month-long activity that started in May included tobacco abuse victims along with oncologists meeting their respective Chief Ministers and urging them to protect the people of their States from the harmful effects of tobacco products by banning gutka , implementi

BHUBANESWAR: The Orissa State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) is all set to crack down on sale of nonsmoking tobacco, available in plastic sachets.

Doctors from the Tata Memorial Hospital took 50 cancer patients from the city to meet opposition leader in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, in Delhi last week.