The Hindu : New Delhi News : ‘Pictorial warnings on gutkha not scary enough’

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Monday, Jun 08, 2009
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‘Pictorial warnings on gutkha not scary enough’

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

Also do not conform to the rules for size, says NGO

NEW DELHI: With pictorial health warnings on tobacco products finally coming into effect after being deferred and diluted several times since the first notification in July 2006, leading “gutkha” brands have printed pictorial health warnings on their packets but with violations.

The size of the pack of a leading “gutkha” brand is 5.7 cm (length) x 4.2 cm (breadth) and the warning on the pack measures 1.9 cm x 1.7 cm i.e. about 13.5 per cent of the front panel of the pack.

However, as per the latest rules on packaging and labelling of tobacco products, the pictorial health warnings should occupy at least 40 per cent of the principal display area of the front panel of the pack and be positioned parallel to the top edge of the package.

“Another concern as regards pictorial health warning seen on the ‘gutkha’ pack is the language used on the packs. According to the law, the language of the pictorial warnings should be the same as the language used on the pack. The manufacturers of ‘gutkha’ had earlier used at least two languages on their packs. But now they have deliberately chosen one language for their brand name,” said Monika Arora, director of Hriday, a non-government organisation working in the area of controlling tobacco abuse.

“In a country like India, one-third of the total population is still illiterate and many from the literate population barely finish their primary level of education. In such a situation having pictorial health warnings only in English will be of little use. Having pictorial warnings itself is a step to overcome the literacy and linguistic barrier,” she added. “It was time to iron out and address issues before all tobacco products are released in the market with incorrect placement of pictorial health warnings.”

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