Rise in tobacco use in India alarming

Tamilnadu, Chennai

News- Rise in tobacco use in India alarming

May 14 2007

CHENNAI: While the use of tobacco and tobacco products in Western countries is showing a fall, it is alarming that their use is increasing in India, V. Shanta, director, Cancer Institute, has said.
Speaking at a workshop on `100 per cent smoke-free environment,' Dr. Shanta said after years of intervention and fighting the tobacco lobby, mortality rates due to cancers caused by smoking and using other tobacco products had dropped.
"Unless we start now in India, we will soon have a large youth population affected by disease."
The only way to generate awareness about the harmful effects of smoking was to ensure that each and every individual was reached with the message. Unless the government and media pitched in, it would be difficult to take the topic to the larger population.
The workshop was organised for representatives of auto drivers, according to E. Vidhubala, Principal Investigator in the WHO and Central Government-sponsored Tobacco Cessation Clinic at the Cancer Institute.
These `master' trainers would train other colleagues, even their clients, and spread awareness about the need for creating smoke-free, healthy environments.
Publicity material including posters, handouts and bills were given to each participant, to be displayed prominently and also distributed. They would have to document their work over the rest of the month in order to produce a report at the end of the period. Three best performers would be awarded.
Dr. Vidhubala also urged the government to ensure that the Central specification on displaying pictorial warning signs on tobacco product packages was implemented stringently.

Health Minister KKSSR Ramachandran said it was a good idea to use the auto driver as a vehicle for communicating the message about smoking and cancer. Prevention was the only way to tackle non-communicable diseases and lifestyle modifications were important. Mr. Ramachandran congratulated Dr. Shanta and her team at the Cancer Institute for not only serving people already affected by cancer but also launching a number of programmes aimed at prevention of the condition.

online available at - http://www.hindu.com/2007/05/13/stories/2007051304240600.htm

Hollywood to stub out smoking in movies

News- Hollywood to stub out smoking in movies

14th May 2007,

Australian anti-tobacco lobbyists have put their weight behind regulations initiated in the US by the Motion Picture Association of America to award pictures an R rating if they include smoking.
The Australian Council on Smoking and Health said that Australia should adopt the policy immediately and classify movies that promoted smoking with an R rating.

An R rating in the US means people under 17 must be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian. This can restrict the box office takings of many blockbusters which seek to attract the key teenage market.
ACOSH president Mike Daube said the tobacco companies were promoting smoking in films insidiously and evidence from the tobacco companies themselves showed they paid for tobacco placement in films.
“US research shows that smoking in films is a significant factor in children taking up the habit and increases the chance by two to three times,” he said.
The MPAA guidelines will not affect films where smoking is historically portrayed but will impose a tougher classification if smoking is glamorised, gratuitous or pervasive.
But leading US anti-smoking activist Stanton Glantz told The West Australian the new measures were “loophole-ridden guidelines”.
Professor Glantz said the studios, which control the MPPA, want the measures to include an option for smoking in films and want to keep paid product placement. Spider-Man 3, which just set a record for the highest grossing weekend in film history and will be seen by children around the globe, features smoking characters as do recent films such as the Cameron Diaz release The Holiday, Leonardo DiCaprio’s Blood Diamond, Pirates of the Caribbean 2, Mission Impossible III and The Da Vinci Code.
Heart Foundation chief executive Maurice Swanson disputed the necessity of increasing classifications and said a more effective strategy would be to require studios or cinema chains to commission hard-hitting advertisements before a film to combat the “massive, evil force” of cigarettes.
“Increasing the rating invokes censorship questions. Research in NSW shows that hard-hitting warnings heightened young people’s awareness and it gets them to think about why cigarettes are in a film at all,” he said.
Federal Attorney-General Phillip Ruddock said he would write to the director of the Board of Film and Literature Classification to draw the issue to his attention and seek information on how smoking in films was currently being considered by the board.

India’s Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss recently banned all cigarette smoking and tobacco product placement from Bollywood productions.

online available at- http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=23&ContentID=28591

Integrate tobacco cessation in healthcare services

By Bobby Ramakant

Opinion- Integrate tobacco cessation in healthcare services


E.X.C.E.R.P.T.S....[With appalling health systems failing to meet even the primary healthcare needs of more than a billion people, it is not going to be easy to meet the tobacco cessation needs in India. But sooner and faster we proceed, all the better]. Please read more below.....thanks


Despite rising taxes and increasing restrictions against tobacco use in India, an alarming number of young people are beginning tobacco use every year. Union Health and Family Welfare Minister of Government of India Dr Anbumani Ramadoss informed our parliament that there are more than 25 crore tobacco users in India. And if you go by WHO statistics, over 50 per cent – 12.5 crores – of them will die prematurely of a tobacco related disease. Not only quitting tobacco is difficult (and often unsuccessful) for an individual, but also it’s not easy to integrate tobacco cessation services in existing healthcare services effectively so as to help an estimated 25 crore of tobacco users in India to quit tobacco use and save needless burden of diseases and deaths.

“Why can’t we integrate tobacco cessation in already existing health systems? India has a massive network of primary to tertiary level healthcare systems across the country, and the effort should be to do ‘value addition’ of healthcare professionals by building their capacities in tobacco cessation” says a veteran frontline tobacco control advocate Professor (Dr) Rama Kant.

Strengthening of tobacco control legislations and the many diseases – 29 on the World Health Organization (WHO)’s last count, including stroke, heart diseases, various cancers and emphysema – associated with tobacco use are bringing in a change with India’s youth perceiving tobacco as a killer. The National Sample Survey Organization conducted a study during 1993-2004 which concludes that there is a 30% decline in tobacco consumption in urban India. The proportion of households with beedi smokers has also declined across the rural-urban divide, by 26-35%.

However many studies show higher tobacco use rates in medical students than in the general population. With a considerable section of healthcare professionals themselves using tobacco, how effective tobacco-cessation advocates will they become?

With deceptive tobacco advertising and misconceptions associated with tobacco use, the addiction takes roots before the age of 18, says Prof Kant. Adolescence is the age of adventure, exploration and naivety. By the time tobacco-related hazards begin to manifest, the person is already addicted to nicotine dose. Nicotine is as addictive as heroin and cocaine, stated a US Surgeon General Report in 1988. It is not easy to quit tobacco, but it is also not impossible, asserts Prof Kant.

Nicotine is a psychologically and physically addictive substance. Psychological and pharmacological aids are available to help people quit tobacco use, although success rates are relatively low. So far India has about 20 tobacco cessation clinics supported by World Health Organization across the country, mandated with the mountainous task of facilitating tobacco cessation for a population of 25 crore tobacco users!

How will we scale up tobacco cessation services in India? Should we invest astronomical amount of money in creating a new speciality of tobacco cessation experts, or rather build capacity of existing healthcare staff? Before we do that healthcare workers should be encouraged to quit tobacco and ‘choose life’ as the WHO slogan says.
There are lot of learning lessons from other public health interventions in India. Disease control and public health programmes of tuberculosis, AIDS, reproductive health, family planning and other related spheres have existed in isolation initially and only later over a considerable period of time we realized the benefits of integration. Not only resource maximization is achieved by integrating programmes as those of TB and HIV, or reproductive health, family planning and HIV, but also it is more sustainable and increases the overall effectiveness of health interventions.

It is vital for health policy makers to understand that the best way is certainly not to resurrect tobacco cessation facilities all across India rather to integrate tobacco cessation in existing healthcare systems. And this makes it all the more vital to urgently respond to the daunting challenge posed by weak health systems.
Also it is high time for healthcare professionals to ‘do what they preach’ – be a role model of a healthy lifestyle.

Tobacco use continues to be the second biggest cause of death in the world, according to the WHO. It currently kills about 50 lakhs people – one in 10 adult deaths – each year globally. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) tobacco use is responsible for over 10 lakh deaths in India each year, which is about 3000 deaths every day.

The urgency to reduce or decimate preventable burden of life-threatening diseases attributed to tobacco is compelling. There is no place for complacency. To reduce this goliath burden, not only we need to reduce the number of youth, who may begin tobacco use, but also we need to scale up quality tobacco cessation services and make it accessible, affordable and available to the most underserved communities at the earliest.

A serious commitment to arresting nicotine dependency is fundamental. Although significant proportions are successful, many people fail several times. Many tobacco users find it difficult to quit, even in the face of serious tobacco-related disease in themselves or close family members or friends.

Moreover unless tobacco users have access to quality affordable tobacco cessation services, how will we enforce anti-tobacco legislations and smoke-free air policies in India overnight? Knowing that nicotine is as addictive as heroin or cocaine (US Surgeon General Report 1988), ignoring the healthcare needs of tobacco using people is being naïve.

Indian tobacco needs a quality check`

May 10 2007

News- `Indian tobacco needs a quality check`

"I have been coming to India for the last 15 years but I am yet to see fully-flavoured or even semi-flavoured tobacco. I have come across and purchased only filler tobacco," starts off Jean Lafanechaire, area manager of Altadis.

Altadis, the fifth largest tobacco company in the world and the world leader in cigar manufacturing, has been buying tobacco from India for over 25 years.

Jean disagrees with the assessment of J Suresh Babu, Tobacco Board chairman; farmers’ leader Y Sivaji, and scientists of the Central Tobacco Research Institute that Indian tobacco is in no way inferior to that of Brazil, Zimbabwe or any other country.

“You cannot compare Indian tobacco with Brazilian or Zimbabwean tobacco. The latter are far superior to Indian tobacco in quality and flavour,” he points out.

“Cigarette companies these days consider it a good year if they make just 3 per cent profit. They pay 80 per cent of the retail prices as taxes and another eight per cent goes to retailers. Then come all other expenses. Tobacco is purchased based on competitive prices in the international market. The fully-flavoured tobacco (best) comes from Brazil, Zimbabwe and the US, and it is mixed with filler tobacco from countries like India to increase the profit.”

“While Karnataka tobacco is a clean filler (better), AP tobacco is less matured with less filling power. Hence, buyers rush for Karnataka tobacco,” he explains.

Jean also has the solutions. “Indian farmers should be helped in improving crop quality and per hectare yields, which has remained stagnant. In Karnataka, the maximum yield is 1,200 kg per hectare while in Brazil it is 12 tonne. Contract farming and cultivation of aromatic tobacco can bring in better prices. The monsoon crop experiment of the Indian Tobacco Board and ILTD in Prakasam holds great hopes for Indian farmers.”

“The auction system is pitted against the Indian farmers. Bright, medium and low-grade tobaccos get almost the same price, which is not the case anywhere in the world. Moreover, there is no duty for tobacco exports from Africa to Europe. But the Indian government levies duties on exports to Europe. All these need to be changed,” he says.

online available at- http://www.business-standard.com/economy/storypage.php?leftnm=3&subLeft=1&chklogin=N&autono=283954&tab=r

World AIDS Orphan Day,

Article of Amit Dwivedi in Swatantra Bharat on World AIDS Orphan Day, May 7 2006


भारत ६ मई, २००७

चाहत एक सामान्य जीवन जीने की

Indians bag Gwangju HR prize

Scoop, Newzeland

Central Chronicle, Bhopal , MP
9 May 2007


Opinion- Indians bag Gwangju HR prize

The 2007 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights has been jointly given to two Indians this year. Dr Lenin Raghuvanshi from People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) in Varanasi (UP) and Irom Sharmila from Manipur state.

This is the first time that Indians have figured in the recipient list. The past recipients include Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the NLD General Secretary in Myanmar, Xanana Gusmao, President of East Timor; Basil Fernando, Executive Director of Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong; Korean Association of Bereaved Families for Democracy, South Korea; and Dandeniya Gamage Jayanthi, Monument for The Disappeared, Sri Lanka.

The Gwangju Prize for Human Rights Award was established to celebrate the spirit of the 18 May 1980 Gwangju Uprising by recognizing both individuals, groups or institutions globally that have contributed in promoting and advancing human rights, democracy and peace in their work.
The prize is awarded by the citizens of Gwangju in the spirit of solidarity and gratitude from those whom they have received help in their struggle for democratization and search for truth. It is hoped that through this award the spirit and message of the May 18 will be immortalized in the hearts and mind of humankind.

Dr Lenin Raghuvanshi has put up vehement resistance against the caste system, supported advocacy initiatives of torture victims in 5 northern states and brought hope back to the minds of more than 3,500 bonded child laborers and those suffering human rights infringements prompted by the caste system, especially to the untouchables.

The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) enacted in 1958, which is operative at the time of a 'suspected' riot(s) in order to 'maintain public order', allows killing by shooting, entering and search of property, and arbitrary detention, etc., its abuse is currently spawning grave human rights violations in some parts of India. Under the powers of AFSPA, on 2 November 2000, the Indian military opened fire on its own citizens in the state of Manipur. Since then, Irom Sharmila, a resident of the tragic state, has refused to eat and drink anything in resistance to indiscriminate use of the AFSPA against civilians.

The response of the Indian government to her resistance has been repetitively evasive: the government has arrested her on a charge of 'attempted suicide', force-fed her and then freed her under applicable law, but, up until now, has failed to provide any fundamental alternative to the law in question. In October 2006, Sharmila left Manipur for New Delhi, the capital of India, at the peril of her own life, to facilitate the accomplishment of the goal of her 6-year-long struggle, i.e. the abolishment of the AFSPA.

However, her daring mission was brought to an abrupt halt when she was arrested by the New Delhi police on her second day in the city. Currently, she is in custody at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital (RMH).

In recognition of their efforts to improve human rights in India , the 2007 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights Selection Committee has selected Lenin Raghuvanshi and Irom Sharmila as co-recipients of the award.

This award carries a prize money amounting to US$ 50,000, a gold medal and a certificate, and ceremony will be held in Gwangju City, Republic of Korea to mark the 27 th anniversary of 18 May 1980 Gwangju Uprising.

"Over the years, I have been very involved in and worried about the situation of marginalized children. In 1993, with Swani Agnivesh, I founded the Bachapan Bachao Andolan (Save the Childhood Movement) and in 1996 the People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) was born to reeducate children who were forced to work" said Dr Lenin.

Lenin Raghuvanshi has become a symbol for millions of Dalits fighting for their dignity in India. His approach to the struggle constantly puts the person at the centre and urges respect for the human dignity of all people belonging to India's lowest castes.

The work of Lenin Raghuvanshi marks a shift in the Indian movement for human rights; he is one of a relatively few activists who insist that caste-based discrimination goes against democratic principles. In Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh - one of the most traditionalist, conservative and segregationist regions in India - Lenin, with a few resources but plenty of confidence and determination, has managed within a short time to bring the problems facing marginalized people to national and international attention.

In 2004, to give voice to those who are marginalized, the Jan Mitra Gaon' was born, also known as 'People-friendly village'. This is a pilot project in which Lenin adopted three villages and a slum, where plans include reopening an elementary school, abolishing forced labour, making education for girls obligatory and spreading non-traditional education. There is no elementary education in vast rural areas but the PVCHR has opened educational centres for children in 45 villages.

"Thanks to the intervention of the PVCHR before international and national fora," says Raghuvanshi, "we have managed to put hunger on the agenda of government priorities.

Bobby Ramakant

online available at- http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00177.htm

http://www.centralchronicle.com/20070509/0905305.htm

Mahilaon mein Badhta Fibriede ka prakop

Mahilaon mein Badhta Fibriede ka prakop

स्वतंत्र भारत, अप्रील १७, २००७