Pictorial health warnings on cigarette packs
The ministry
of health is about to fight the perils of smoking with an added gusto
According to a recent WHO (World Health Organisation) report, nearly one hundred thousand people die of tobacco-related diseases each year in Bangladesh, while more than 300,000 suffer from disabilities every year. Against the backdrop of such scary reality, the government is about to implement the Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Control) Rule, 2015, by making 50 per cent pictorial health warnings on cigarette packets mandatory by March 19.
Moreover, according to Article 11 of the International Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), 50 per cent space on either side of the cigarette packets now should contain graphical health warning or GHW. Additionally, if the section of the law is violated, the punishment could be rigorous imprisonment of six months, or a fine not less than Tk. 200,000 or in some cases both.
In tune with the old saying, a picture is worth a thousand words its the graphical image of a damaged heart and blocked arteries which often prevents a smoker from lighting up his/her next cigarette or making him/her think twice before picking up smoking, thus, making the pictorial warning more effective than a mere health warning sentence. Given the success rate of the pictorial, now, at least 77 countries worldwide have introduced pictorial health warnings on packets. In neighbouring Nepal, tobacco companies now have to cover 90 per cent space of the packets with graphic warnings, while our next-door India will have to use 85 per cent from April next. But the laudable scheme for discouraging people from smoking should have actually been taken at least a decade ago. But it is always better late than never.
While addressing the topic of graphical health warnings the Health and Law ministers besides anti-tobacco campaigners have urged people to restrain from smoking. The Health Minister, in particular, is reported to have quoted the easy implementation of the law will be possible if majority of smokers give up true, but at the same time smoking tobacco is both a physical addiction and a psychological habit, so the millions of our long time smokers will have to address both issues on separate counts. Preventive measures to stop smoking in public should be correctly implemented. For instance, while attempting to close the many loopholes within our Tobacco Control Law Amendment Bill, the national parliament had passed a law to fine Taka 300 compared to the previous Taka 50 for smoking in public places in 2013. The law was manifestly never properly implemented. Results were and are still poor, so in order to make the introduction of pictorial warnings a success its again the strict enforcement of law that will matter. Laws without strict enforcement are merely suggestions.
