85% pictorial health warnings on both sides of tobacco packs critical to save Indians from cardiovascular diseases: Cardiologists say on World Health Day

New Delhi, September 29, 2015: On the occasion of World Heart Day 2015, renowned Indian cardiologists have joined hands to demand immediate implementation of the 85% pictorial health warnings on both sides of tobacco packs as a critical measure to save people from the rising burden of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in India.

Cardiovascular diseases are responsible for 26% of deaths in India and tobacco is a major risk factor for these diseases. About 275 million of India’s adult population uses tobacco in some form of the other. Tobacco-attributable diseases and death are preventable and 20% of premature mortality related to CVDs occurs due to tobacco use.

“People must realize the high stakes of using tobacco not just for themselves but also their families. Tobacco use result in major CVDs, which cost India two times more than costs incurred to treat cancers. This year marks a crucial year for tobacco control with the United Nations adopting sustainable development goals (SDGs) that include tracking progress and implementation of the WHO-FCTC. We, as guardians of heart health are strongly committed to combining our clinical practice and efforts in preventive cardiology to highlight the role of CVDs in tobacco control policy development. It is only through measures like the 85% pack warnings, that we can reach our national target of 30% relative reduction of current tobacco use. Success in reaching the SDG targets on health especially the target related to premature mortality from NCDs is pivotally dependent on effective tobacco control in India,” said Prof. K. Srinath Reddy, President, Public Health Foundation of India and Honourary President, HRIDAY.

The 85% pictorial health warnings were originally scheduled for implementation on April 1, 2015 but were delayed following a recommendation by the LokSabha Committee on Subordinate Legislation. The Committee cited lack of concrete evidence on the linkage between tobacco use and life threatening diseases.

“Increasingly, research is showing that both smoking and smokeless tobacco use arerelated to CVD mortality. Major tobacco attributable CVDs include ischemic heart disease, or myocardial infarction or coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease or stroke, and other CVDs such as aortic aneurysm, peripheral artery disease. CVDs are becoming the largest killers among Indians. Tobacco use is a portent of disease and death and we as doctors and heart specialists recommend that immediate steps are taken to tackle tobacco use in India. Strong control measures are critical at this time and we must begin by implementing the 85% warnings on both sides of all types of tobacco packs,” said Dr KK Aggarwal,President, Heart Care Foundation of India.

At present, pictorial health warnings cover 40% of the principal display area of tobacco packages. India is currently ranked at the 136^th position worldwide vis-à-vis warnings labels, according to an international report published by the Canadian Cancer Society in 2014.

“Recent evidence from India shows very low levels of readiness to quit tobacco use. For instance, the first phase of the Tobacco Control Policy (TCP) Evaluation report shows that up to 94% of users of both smoking and smokeless products in the states studied, had no intention to quit. This points to the fact that our tobacco control efforts are not adequately highlighting the heinous effects of tobacco use. Clearly, the users are not motivated to quit and this is a serious cause of concern. Large pictorial health warnings are crucial in motivating users to quit and must reflect the far-reaching consequences of tobacco use and we request the government to include CVDs in the range of pictorial warnings. As a society of cardiologists, we can support the government by creating a repository of messages on CVDs and their link to tobacco use,” said Dr H.K. Chopra, President, Cardiological Society of India.

Tobacco kills 10 lakh Indians every year.

“Tobacco use has acute negative effects on the heart causing coronary artery disease, death and cardiac mortality. Studies have shown that both smoking and chewing tobacco acutely increase the heart rate and increase risk of sudden cardiac arrest leading to death. In fact, fetal heart rate also rises when pregnant women smoke. Pictorial health warnings are among the proven policies to tackle tobacco use. It is imperative that the Government implements the 85% warnings on both sides of the packs immediately since these packs reach users directly and they can see first hand, the devastating consequences of tobacco use. As people who are committed to heart health we can and must engage members at the national and sub-national levels to raise more awareness and highlight the disastrous impact of tobacco use on the heart,” Dr. Ramakanta Panda, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Asian Heart Institute.

The 85% pictorial health warnings are overdue. We look forward to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare committing to their early implementation, when the matter is reviewed by the Rajasthan High Court on September 29, 2015.
Corporate Comm India(CCI Newswire)