Union Health minister J.P. Nadda on Monday said there is need to take multi-sectoral action and integrated approaches to health goals, especially as the country is facing the dual burden of infectious and non-communicable diseases.
He was speaking during the inauguration of the Seventh Session of the Conference of Parties to WHO Framework Conve-ntion on Tobacco Control (FCTC) which India is hosting for the first time.
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, who gave a special addre-ss during the inaugural session of the conferen-ce, said that Sri Lanka is mooting introduction of plain packaging of tobacco products that prohibi-ts use of logos, colours and brand images.
Meanwhile, Indian tobacco farmers staged a demonstration at the venue of a global conference organised by the WHO to protest against the “non-democratic” way of framing “one-sided” policies on tobacco. Mr Nadda said that the government is aware of the concerns of tobacco farmers and their issues will be discussed during the ongoing global tobacco control conference, even as he added that India has to go a long way in preventing millions of avoidable deaths resulting from the habit of tobacco use and there are many challenges like new products which are emerging and the existing products are proliferating locally and internationally to newer areas.
“There is a huge economic burden on people and governments due to adverse health consequences of tobacco use,” he said.
Certain parts of the world, including India, have a myriad of tobacco products,” he said at the conference where more than 1,500 delegates from all over the world are taking part.
“We cannot do this alone. Along with national will and resources, we also need the strength of international collaboration to mitigate the rising burden of health, social and economic costs of tobacco,” Nadda further said.
He said this is a landmark year for tobacco control activities as the country has successfully implemented, from April, large pictorial health warnings occupying 85 per cent of the principal display area of tobacco packs and on all forms of tobacco.
Terming WHO FCTC as India’s strongest tool to curb the emerging non-communicable diseases, Nadda said India cannot tackle these diseases only by making more hospitals, cancer institutes and producing more doctors and allied health professionals.
He said India is committed to strengthening non- communicable disease programmes and interventions and implementation of the WHO FCTC as an integral part of the post 2015 sustainable development goals.
