PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss is calling on Prime Minister Modi to enact a law banning cigarette sales to anyone born after 2009, aiming to create a smoke-free generation and reduce tobacco-related deaths in India.
Key Points
- The proposed ban aims to create a smoke-free generation by legally preventing future access to tobacco products.
- India faces a high burden of tobacco-related deaths, with over 1.35 million deaths annually attributed to tobacco consumption.
- Tobacco use is a leading cause of cancer, responsible for 40-50% of all cancer cases in India.
- Anbumani Ramadoss advocates for a law similar to the UK's to prohibit tobacco sales to individuals born after a specific year.
Pattali Makkal Katchi leader Anbumani Ramadoss on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take legislative measures to prohibit smoking and the sale of cigarettes to individuals born on or after January 1, 2009, thereby creating a smoke-free generation.
"Once implemented, it (ban on cigarettes) will ensure that future generations are legally prevented from ever accessing tobacco products", he said in a letter to Modi.
"I write to you with a deep sense of urgency and responsibility, drawing your kind attention to a critical public health issue that continues to endanger the lives of millions of Indians, particularly among the younger generation who are affected by cigarette smoking", he claimed.
Anbumani, while serving as Union minister for health and family welfare in the Manmohan Singh-led First UPA government between 2004-09, had introduced a ban on cigarettes in public places across India. His party, PMK, consistently voices against cigarettes and tobacco products.
Stating that India unfortunately bears a disproportionately high burden of tobacco-related morbidity and mortality, Anbumani pointed out that according to global health estimates, nearly 267 million Indians, approximately one in five citizens, use tobacco.
"Each year, tobacco consumption directly accounts for over 1.35 million deaths, while exposure to second-hand smoke contributes to a total of approximately 2.3 million deaths annually", he said, adding, "these figures are alarming and reflect a public health crisis of immense magnitude".
He pointed out that Scientific evidence unequivocally establishes tobacco use as a leading cause of cancer and numerous non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular ailments, chronic respiratory diseases such as COPD, and multiple forms of malignancies. "In India alone, tobacco is responsible for nearly 40â 50 per cent of all cancer cases, with over 4.7 lakh deaths annually attributed to tobacco-induced cancers", he added.
"In this context, I strongly urge the Union government to consider enacting a transformative law similar to that of the United Kingdom, that permanently prohibits the sale and consumption of tobacco products for individuals born on or after a specified year (such as 2009). Such a generational ban would mark a decisive step towards eliminating tobacco use in India over time", he said.
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