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.
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September 23, 2019 by vapingpost.com
No Quarter for the Nicotine Folk Devils
How can a government justify criminalizing people for using safer methods to use a legal recreational substance? This question is the centerpiece of all prohibitions against vaping as the global outrage about the behavior grows exponentially.
India, a country of millions of smokers, just banned e-cigarettes nationwide.
“The decision was made keeping in mind the impact that e-cigarettes have on the youth of today,” India’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, said in a press conference. [...]
September 20, 2019 by indiatimes.com
‘I cannot see why e-cigarettes should be banned … if you switch to combustion-free products harm will come down’
[...] Rudroneel Ghosh spoke with Riccardo Polosa, professor at department of clinical and experimental medicine, University of Catania, Italy, on approaches to mitigating harm caused by tobacco:
How severe is the problem of tobacco harm in India?
The problem is enormous. There are two parts to it. One is the tobacco that Indians smoke which is about 100 million people, and the second is chewing tobacco which entails another 300 million. As you know tobacco can kill, particularly tobacco that you smoke which can cause cardio-vascular disease, [...]
September 20, 2019 by youtube.com
E-Cigarettes Banned, Says Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
E-cigarettes will be banned in India with immediate effect, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Wednesday. Envisioned as a tool to combat tobacco addiction, electronic cigarettes and other vaping products have become a major problem and increase the risk of children adopting them, she said. "It means the production, manufacturing, import/export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and advertising related to e-cigarettes are banned," Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at a press conference.
September 19, 2019 by cnn.com
India is banning all e-cigarettes over fears about youth vaping
India on Wednesday announced a complete ban on the sale of all e-cigarettes, saying the devices posed a health risk, especially to young people.
April 03, 2019 by deccanherald.com
Doctors appeal to PM to enforce ban on e-cigarettes
Over 1,000 doctors from 24 states and three union territories have urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to enforce a ban on Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), including e-cigarettes and flavoured hookah before it becomes an "epidemic in India", especially among the youth.
Expressing concern over media reports that 30 organisations have written to the IT Ministry to prevent the ban on promotion of ENDS, 1,061 doctors in a letter to the Prime Minister said this was a public health matter and commercial interests should not be entertained.
February 15, 2019 by financialexpress.com
The future of tobacco control
Over 300 million people in India regularly use tobacco products, with a third using cigarette-type products and twice as many using oral tobacco. The use of these products causes over 1 million premature deaths annually in the country, and as the population and disposable income increases, this toll can be expected to worsen significantly.
It’s is a public health catastrophe, and for many people the story ends there. [...]
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 [...]