Rajasthan’s tobacco control included among best initiatives

A presentation will be made on the programmes at a national summit in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, later this month

The tobacco control programmes launched in Rajasthan have been included among the best initiatives in the country, for which a presentation will be made at a national summit in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, later this month. Activists in the State have reiterated their demand for enforcement of a tobacco vendor licensing mechanism after the announcement.

Medical and Health Minister Raghu Sharma said here on Tuesday that the health officials of all States would attend the presentation on Rajasthan’s initiatives at the national summit on “Good, replicable practices and innovations in public health care in India”, to be held in Gandhinagar from November 16 to 18.

Mr. Sharma said over 1.13 crore people in the State had taken an oath for not consuming tobacco products and drugs on January 30 last, marking the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The World Health Organisation awarded Rajasthan, after listing it among 33 organisations in the world, in recognition of its works on the World No Tobacco Day on May 31.

After imposing a ban on e-cigarettes in May this year, the State government prohibited the sale of ‘paan masala’ containing nicotine, magnesium carbonate and mineral oil last month. Mr. Sharma praised the State’s Tobacco Control Unit for its achievements and asked it to implement the programme effectively in future as well.

Voluntary groups working for tobacco control by undertaking a sustained campaign for the last four years have once again called for enforcement of a vendor licensing mechanism to control and regulate the sale of tobacco products. Licensing has been highlighted as a deterrent which may especially reduce children’s access to cigarettes and other tobacco products.

Jayesh Joshi, secretary of Banswara-based Vaagdhara group, said the State government should frame rules under the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003, making it mandatory for shopkeepers to obtain licence to sell any type of tobacco products. As of now, the vendors violating the rules pay a petty fine and go back to selling tobacco.

The State government had authorised municipal bodies in 2018 to regulate the sale of tobacco products. Since the Global Adult Tobacco Survey 2016-17 has found 24.7 % of the adults in Rajasthan as tobacco users, Mr. Joshi said that an effective implementation of COTPA and the licensing policy’s formulation would save health care costs, increase labour productivity and reduce human suffering.

The successful ban on production, distribution, advertisement and sale of e-cigarettes was also highlighted at the 41st session of U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva in June this year, with the emphasis on the rights of tribal children, among whom the addiction starts at an early age.

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