NNWN / New Delhi, 2017-06-13

Can an increase in the size of pictorial warning on cigarette packet discourage people from smoking? Believe it or not,More than a year after the pictorial warning on cigarette packets was increased to 85 per cent,Mumbai based Tata Institute of Social Sciences conducted a study with the technical assistance from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States, to know the impact of larger warning on the cigarette packets. The results were amazing. The Ministry of Health released the findings of the survey. 

 Tobacco consumption in India has dropped by 6 per cent over the last few years - from 34.6 in 2010 to 28.6 per cent, .according to the latest Global Adult Tobacco Survey 2016, The survey was done on the basis of information collected from across 30 states and two union territories in India covering about 74,037 people above the age of 15 years. It used global standards to monitor tobacco use and tracked key control indicators.

The report indicated that a significant reduction in the consumption of tobacco has been reported after the implementation of 85 per cent pictorial warning on all tobacco products and the ban on flavoured tobacco in several states.The report shows that a sharp decline in tobacco consumption has been noticed amongst the younger generation between the age of 15 and 24 years. Tobacco consumption among teenagers (15 to 17 years) has dropped from 9.6 per cent in 2010 to 4.4 per cent in 2016 and among young adults (18 to 24 years) from 21.4 per cent in 2010 to 15.4 per cent in 2016. Another piece of good news is that ever since pictorial warnings have been implemented - over 61.9 per cent adults thought of quitting cigarettes and 53.8 per cent expressed the desire to quit smoking.