Smoking in India
In India, the current prevalence of smoking among adults aged 15 years and older was estimated to be 9.3% in 2024, reflecting an increase from 8.1% in 2020. The current smoking prevalence among adult males was significantly higher with 16.7% in 2024, compared to 1.4% among adult females. This gender disparity has been consistent, as in 2020, the prevalence among males was 14.4% and 1.40% among females. The total number of smokers in 2024 was approximately 100,2 million individuals, showing an increase from 80,481,112 in 2020. For reference, the adult daily smoking prevalence in 2017 was 8.6%, with a prevalence of 15.2% among males and 1.7% among females. Smoking-related mortality remains a significant health concern in India, with 1,048,266 deaths recorded in 2021. This accounts for 8.92% of all deaths in the country. Of these deaths, 233,679 were recorded among female, representing 4.59% of all female deaths, while 814,587 were male, accounting for 12.23% of all male deaths. These data underscore the ongoing public health challenges posed by tobacco smoking in India, highlighting the necessity for effective public health measures to reduce smoking prevalence and its associated mortalities.
Read articles from India
February 06, 2019 by qz.com
India may revise plans to restrict the online promotion of vaping and e-cigarettes
India’s ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) is likely to walk back the stance on vaping laid out as part of its proposed rules for policing internet content.
This follows submissions made by India’s fledgling vaping community that using e-cigarettes is not as harmful as smoking or chewing tobacco, and therefore should not be included in the rules. ”We do not, in fact, understand vaping and ENDS (Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems).
February 05, 2019 by qz.com
India’s move to regulate internet content has left e-cigarette users fuming
India’s plans to regulate internet content have put its vaping community at loggerheads with its government.
The country’s ministry of electronics and IT proposed changes to India’s Information Technology (IT) Act last December that would require web platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter to remove online content that promotes Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS). As a category, ENDS includes e-cigarettes and other methods of vaping, and currently occupies a legal grey area in India.
January 24, 2019 by businessinsider.in
Smokers alert — cigarette prices in India may rise even further
The price of cigarettes has risen significantly in recent months, but that has not deterred the country’s smokers. And the prices could rise even further.
ITC Limited, which controls over three-quarter of India’s cigarette market, showed that it’s revenue from the cigarettes sales in the last nine months fell 15% compared to the same time a year earlier. However, the earnings before interest and tax went up 9%; and it was still below expectations.
January 21, 2019 by thehindu.com
Tobacco companies targeting children: Study
A report released on Wednesday finds that tobacco companies in India are systematically targeting children as young as eight by selling tobacco products and placing tobacco advertisements near schools.
These tactics, happening all over the country, is a clear violation of Section 5 and 6 of Cigarettes & Other Tobacco Products Act, it said.
To gather evidence regarding tobacco products being sold around educational institutions in violation of the law, two groups working in the area of tobacco control [...]
January 14, 2019 by indiatimes.com
'No regulation for printing of nicotine content on cigarette packets'
Food safety and standards authority of India (FSSAI) has submitted its reply before high court in a petition seeking printing of nicotine and tar content on cigarette packets, denying any regulation over smoking tobacco products or cigarettes.
FSSAI submitted that they could only regulate food items and were taking steps towards exercising the ban on use of nicotine and tar in food products, including pan masala and gutka.
January 08, 2019 by thewire.in
Three Ministries Advance Regulations to Control E-Cigarettes
Various forms of e-cigarettes face growing resistance from the government in their efforts to break into the Indian market. At least three ministries have advanced new regulations on the marketing or import of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems – widely known as vapes – while the medical community debates their actual effects on health.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) has proposed an amendment to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules 2018 to ban the advertisement of e-cigarettes.
November 29, 2018 by livemint.com
Centre directs states to make all govt buildings tobacco free
Union health ministry has directed all States to make government buildings and offices “Tobacco Free” in order to protect public health. Health secretary Preeti Sudan has written to all State Chief Secretaries and Secretaries of all government departments that the ministry is ready to extend any technical support if required for the initiative. [...] The ministry of health and family welfare housed in Nirman Bhawan has already taken this initiative and issued a circular for banning use of any form of tobacco in the building.
November 13, 2018 by indiatimes.com
Decide within 6 months if cigarette pkts will have nicotine & tar content levels on label: [...]
Uttarakhand high court (HC) on Monday directed the central government to “consider within a period of six months whether a part of Section 7 of The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products [...] should be brought into force or not.” Section 7 (5) of the Act stipulates that “no person shall directly or indirectly, produce, supply or distribute cigarettes or any other tobacco products unless every package of cigarettes produced, supplied or distributed by him indicates on its label, [...]
November 12, 2018 by telegraphindia.com
Vapers fume over government advisory banning e-cigarettes
Maneesh Kasera was a smoker for 28 years. Two years ago, he made the first attempt to quit smoking. He tried nicotine gums — a kind of chewing gum that delivers nicotine to the body — for a day or two but nothing could wean him away from cigarettes. Finally, he tried e-cigarettes. [...] Like Kasera, many Indians are vaping — the term for using e-cigarettes. But the recent advisory from the Indian government to ban e-cigarettes has thrown vapers or e-cigarette smokers into a tizzy.
October 30, 2018 by indiatoday.in
Cigarette packets yet to have govt's new warning
The Central government's notification that packs of all tobacco products must carry its new warning - a scarier image & messaging and a toll-free number for help in quitting - has gone up in smoke in the Capital!
A Mail Today reality check at scores of shops across the city revealed that the order, effective in letter from September 1, has not been enforced in the past two months.
The Delhi state tobacco control cell admitted that it is flooded with complaints [...]