Former Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss on Friday came down heavily on the move by the Union Government to defer the decision to increase the area of anti-tobacco warnings on cigarette packets. Speaking to reporters here on Friday, Anbumani demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention in ensuring that the manufacturers of cigarettes increase the size of pictorial warnings on cigarette packets to 85 per cent as decided earlier. "The Prime Minister should order the Health Ministry to increase the pictorial warnings on cigarette packets to 85 per cent of the total area," he said.
Anbumani pointed out that it was decided earlier that the size of the pictorial warnings on cigarette packets would be increased from the present 40 per cent to 85 per cent with effect from April 1. The decision to defer the move was following the findings of the parliamentary panel led by BJP MP Dilip Gandhi which claimed that there were no India specific studies on the link between cigarette smoking and cancer.
The PMK leader, a medical doctor by training, pointed out that comprehensive researches by institutions like the Indian Council of Medical Research has established that cigarette smoking would lead not only to cancer but many diseases related to lungs, kidney and brain. "A parliamentary panel had recommended in 2013 to increase the size of pictorial warnings on cigarette packets to 90 per cent. But the present recommendation is ridiculous," he said.
Quoting from health statistics, Anbumani said the Indian tobacco industry is worth Rs 40,000 crore while the country has to spend Rs 1,15,000 crore to tackle tobacco related diseases. "The Government should ask tobacco growers to opt for harmless crops or help them find out suitable alternatives," he said.