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Written By: Editorial Team | Published : May 26, 2014 1:09 PM IST
Home Secretary Anil Goswami has directed police in all states to curb advertisements of tobacco products, and to add violation of the law on tobacco advertising in their monthly crime review list. 'Directors general of police (DGPs) of all state governments/union territories will have to incorporate the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce Production, Supply and Distribution) Act (COTPA) violations in the monthly crime review for strengthening the public health measures at the district and sub-district level,' Goswami said in a letter to the various state governments.
COTPA, enacted in 2003 and applicable in the entire country, was mainly to discourage the consumption of cigarettes and other tobacco products by imposing progressive restrictions and to protect non-smokers from second-hand smoke. The state police chiefs have been asked to incorporate the COTPA violations as an agenda item in their monthly crime review meetings at the district level. 'Information and reports have to be generated at the state and district levels and forwarded to the union ministries of home affairs and health and family welfare thrice a year for monitoring at the national level,' he said. (Read : 10 ads that will inspire you to quit smoking)
Dangers of smoking
Can smoking give you heart disease and strokes?
India has 285 million smokers and about 138 million don't know that smoking can cause stroke (cerebrovascular accident). As many as 92 million aren't aware that tobacco causes heart disease. According to a report released by the World Heart Federation (WHF) on Friday, half of all Chinese smokers and one-third of Indian smokers are unaware of the risks tobacco pose to the heart. There is even lesser awareness about the dangers of second hand smoke. According to WHF, cardiovascular disease (CVD) kills 17.3 million people every year. Around 80% of these deaths occur in low and middle-income countries like India, which are increasingly being targeted by the tobacco industry.
Tobacco use and second hand smoke exposure causes about 1/10th of global deaths from CVD. Secondhand smoke exposure increases the risk of heart disease by 25% and more than 87% of worldwide adult deaths caused by secondhand smoke are due to CVD. The report Cardiovascular Harms from Tobacco Use and Secondhand Smoke was commissioned by the WHF and written by the International Tobacco Control Project (ITC Project) in collaboration with the Tobacco Free Initiative at the World Health Organization. (Read more on quit smoking)
With inputs from IANS
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