Read articles from India

October 23, 2020 by filtermag.org

In September 2019, Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s finance minister, announced a ban on vaping products—an ordinance, passed months later by parliament, that would “prohibit the production, manufacture, import, export, transport, sale, distribution, storage, and advertisement of e-cigarettes.” It was unfortunate that “e-cigarettes got promoted initially as a way in which people can get out of the habit of smoking cigarettes,” Sitharaman stated after a cabinet meeting that fall. “It was to be a weaning process from using cigarettes.”

September 30, 2020 by indianexpress.com

The Maharashtra government has banned the sale of loose cigarettes and beedis, in a bid to reduce the consumption of tobacco and to comply with the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) 2003. Before this, Chhattisgarh had banned the sale of loose cigarettes earlier this year, while Karnataka banned the sale of loose cigarettes, beedis and chewing tobacco in 2017. As per the Tobacco Free Union, over 1 million people die from tobacco-related diseases in India every year.

September 21, 2020 by freepressjournal.in

On September 18, 2019, the Indian government banned e-cigarettes through the Prohibition of E-cigarettes Ordinance, 2019. Citing health risks associated with e-cigarettes, vaping devices as the reasons for enforcing the ban.

And, now, a year later, the Association of Vapers India (AVI), an organisation that represents e-cigarette users, has urged the Centre to lift the ban. While talking to The Free Press Journal, Samrat Chowdhery, Director, AVI, explained why the reasons behind their request. "There are a number of reasons, primarily from the health perspective, but also from the economic view. [...]

April 15, 2020 by thehindu.com

Some have been forced to cut back on their smoking, others have had to switch to bidis, the poor Indian’s smoke. And, it’s not easy to lay hands on what is an “essential commodity” for some. Some are willing to pay a premium to lay their hands on a packet of cigarettes.

“It’s good in a way; we are smoking less. But the way it has been done is just promoting black marketing. I started asking my roommate for help after I finished my own pack which I bought for ₹50 extra,” his roommate Ojas Khari (name changed) said.

February 24, 2020 by telegraphindia.com

Dozens of doctors had joined coordinated and independent campaigns to stall the Narendra Modi government’s slow tilt towards a ban on electronic cigarettes legislated by Parliament in December 2019, public health experts have said.

The campaigns conducted through letters to experts who could influence policy, a “consensus statement” from doctors and press releases, although irrelevant now after the ban, showed how sections of the medical community had backed dubious commercial goals, the experts said.

January 31, 2020 by thehitavada.com

Despite ban, ENDS (Electronic Nicotine Delivery System) or commonly known as e-cigarettes are selling openly in all parts of twin cities. It is worth mentioning that on September month of 2019, the Union Ministry has issued an ordinance making the manufacturing, production, [...] storage or advertisements of alternative smoking devices a cognizable offence, attracting jail term and fine. [...] According to government data, as of July 2019, there were over 460 e-cigarette brands available in the Indian market utilising varying methods of nicotine delivery and over 7,700 types of e-liquid flavours.

January 14, 2020 by vapingpost.com

In line with arguments by countless public health experts, in response to the nationwide e-cig ban recently passed by Parliament, Indian doctors are concerned about the resulting likely increase in cancers and chronic heart and lung diseases, as former smokers who vape to quit cigarettes, may now turn back to smoking.
Last Summer, the Union Health Ministry had prepared the Prohibition of E-cigarettes Ordinance 2019, which was sent to the Cabinet for review. [...]

December 16, 2019 by researchmatters.in

According to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey, covering 22 countries, 248 million people use smokeless tobacco in the form of gutka, iqmik or snus. A whopping 82% of them are in South-East Asian countries, majorly in India and Bangladesh. In India, 21.4% of all adults consume tobacco in smokeless form, which is a leading cause of gum disease, tooth decay, and cancer, as these products contain more than 30 carcinogens. Since smokeless tobacco products are consumed in a variety of formulations, including those with flavouring agents and alkaloids, it is challenging to regulate the use of these products.

December 12, 2019 by healthissuesindia.com

A fixture of the public health crisis since the announcement of the Government of India’s e-cigarette ban has been the expression of doctors’ concerns – and a number have been expressed since the ban was announced.
[...] “There is data available regarding e-cigarettes as smoking cessation devices from the UK, so Indian studies should have been taken up by the government as well as health organisations,” said Dr Bharat Ghopal, the senior pulmonologist and director of the National Chest Centre in Delhi. ‘A lot of smokers come to us asking for alternatives so that they can quit smoking. [...]

October 22, 2019 by thehindu.com

Dr. Pankaj Chaturvedi, a head and neck cancer surgeon from Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Hospital has been a vociferous critic of tobacco use. The surgeon played a crucial role in Maharashtra’s gutkha ban and pushing the Centre to print gory pictorial warnings on cigarette packets. Dr. Chaturvedi talks to The Hindu about why the Centre’s move to ban Electronic Nicotine Delivery Devices (ENDS) was essential, and his concerns about the government’s failure to curb tobacco usage through smoking and chewing. [...]