Why India ignores a $16 billion smoking-led health crisis
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
In January, the government asked for public opinion on tougher new laws to curb smoking: To raise the minimum smoking age to 21 from 18, and to ban the sale of single cigarettes, which account for 70 percent of nationwide cigarette sales.
People responded enthusiastically; 45,000 emails and 100,000 letters poured in to the health ministry, as Reuters reported earlier this month. What they said, however, is not known because the government hasn't yet read the messages, according to a health ministry representative quoted in the story.
Like those messages, the World Health Organisation's Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic 2015 is largely ignored in India. Its single-line message: Raising tobacco taxes can help curb smoking.
Source: The Economic Times (link opens in a new window)
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