Mumbai: In order to curb the menace of cigarette smoking in the country and save thousands of lives, the Union health and family welfare ministry has issued a notification to print a help line number (1800112356) titled ‘QuitLine’ on tobacco packets. The notification has been issued on April 3. Along with the QuitLine, a helpline number to quit smoking, the government has asked the tobacco manufactures to put two set of pictorial warnings.
Government has introduced this title looking at the results of Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) report of 2017, which indicates 62 per cent of cigarette smokers, 54 per cent of bidi smokers and 46 per cent of smokeless tobacco users thought to quit because of pictorial warning on the products.
Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, a cancer surgeon and Professor in Tata Memorial Hospital, said, “Twelve lakh deaths occur every year in India due to tobacco use. Almost 40 per cent of the Non Communicable Diseases (NCD) including cancers, cardio-vascular diseases and lung disorders are directly attributable to tobacco use.”
He added, “Tobacco is responsible for nearly 50 per cent of all cancers in India and 90 per cent of mouth cancers”.
