Read articles from India

June 29, 2021 by indiatimes.com

I found conversations at the Global Forum on Nicotine – held earlier this month in Liverpool – very interesting, experts repeatedly highlighting the vital role of safer nicotine products in the fight to reduce global smoking-related death and disease.

They have reasons to be worried. Nearly four million people have died from the pandemic, a devastating figure that is, sadly, less than half the annual death toll from smoking. [...]

June 04, 2021 by tribuneindia.com

“According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), India is home to 12 per cent of the world’s smokers. There are approximately 120 million smokers in India and more than 10 million people die each year due to tobacco in India,” said Dr Suresh Goyal, senior consultant of pulmonary medicine at Ivy Hospital, in an online awareness session. He said smoking affects almost all organs of the body. “It causes various types of cancer, like mouth, lungs, food pipe, kidney and pancreas etc. It leads to heart diseases, stroke, lung diseases (asthma and COPD) and various eye problems. 

May 31, 2021 by outlookindia.com

Amid mounting evidence pointing to the relative safety of e-cigarettes compared to combustible ones, India’s ban on the former appears to be on shaky ground. Celebrated by many in the tobacco control field, India with much ado banned the sale of e-cigarettes two years ago. The decision was taken to protect the country’s youth following news from the US about alarming rise in teen use, with the final straw being the spate of deaths there due to e-cigarettes.

May 21, 2021 by businesstoday.in

In September 2019, the government announced a complete ban on e-cigarettes under the guise of preventing potential health risks to India's youth. In what can now be termed as typical, this ruling was passed as an ordinance, without debate or deliberation in the parliament and mostly ignoring both evidence regarding health risks and lessons from India's multiple previous disastrous experiences with bans. About 1.5 years and a pandemic later, it is time to revisit the (de)merits of the ban and possible ways forward.  

May 04, 2021 by filtermag.org

Tobacco use is a poor person’s problem. People with low incomes consume and grow it the most and suffer the gravest consequences from its trade and use. Yet tobacco control policies do not adequately address their needs, merely using them as statistics to highlight the enormity of problems rather than implementing measures to benefit them. Globally, 84 percent of smokers now live in low- and middle-income countries, which are also where around 90 percent of tobacco farming takes place. Even in the West, smoking is more prevalent in economically disadvantaged communities.

April 28, 2021 by sciencetimes.com

Several media reports recently came out quoting a CSIR survey that has gone viral on social media after it claimed that smokers and vegetarians are less susceptible to COVID-19.

According to an India.com report, ever since the second wave of COVID-19 caused chaos in India, a lot of false rumors and misinformation have appeared online. [...] Amidst the viral news, on Monday, the Press Information Bureau while quoting CSIR made it clear that at present, no conclusion can be drawn yet based on the "serological studies" that smoking and vegetarian diet may shield one from COVID-19. [...]

April 26, 2021 by freepressjournal.in

A recent survey conducted by CSIR (Council of Scientific Industrial Research), Government of India, has revealed that smokers and vegetarians are less likely to contract Covid-19 infection. The survey suggested smoking may be protective, despite Covid-19 being a respiratory disease, due to its role in increasing the mucous production that may be acting as the first line of defence among the smoking population. It indicated that vegetarian food rich in fibre may have a role to play in providing immunity against COVID-19 due to its anti-inflammatory properties by modification of gut microbiota.

March 29, 2021 by regulatorwatch.com

In this special series of RegWatch, we explore how Bloomberg uses his power and money to backstop a tangled web of philanthropic organizations who cajole, strong-arm or buy-off governments of low and middle-income countries so that they would implement harsh restrictions, taxes, and even bans on low-risk nicotine products, such as vaping.

February 26, 2021 by indiatoday.in

The Jharkhand cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal to completely ban hookah bars in the state. As per the decision, those flouting rules may face a prison sentence or a fine of Rs 1 lakh.

The cabinet has also approved a decision to make the sale and purchase of tobacco products like cigarettes at public places illegal. Anyone found breaking the rules will be fined Rs 1,000. [...]
A decision to increase the minimum age for buying tobacco products in the state has also been increased from 18 to 21. It may be noted that those below the age of 21 will not be allowed to purchase any tobacco products.

February 12, 2021 by indiatimes.com

Herbal smoking can ease respiratory symptoms including Covid. Such misleading claims are being used by online marketing websites to sell herbal cigarettes/bidis to the underage. This has been a significant finding of a study from the Oral Health Sciences Centre (OHSC) at the PGI.

Out of the initial 1,044 records retrieved, 73 retail web pages were included in the final analysis which revealed 24 brands, produced by 18 manufacturers offering 189 different flavours in packs of 5 to 20 sticks.