Helpline for tobacco users

India is the only SAARC country to have a quit-line number India has become the first and only SAARC country to have a quit-line number on tobacco products. The Union Health Ministry has already made 85% pictorial health warning mandatory on both sides of packets containing cigarettes, bidis, and chewing tobacco. The quit-line number will be printed on all tobacco products manufactured after September 1, 2018. India is the fourth country in Asia after Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore to have this government helpline for those looking at quitting tobacco. At least 46 countries have quit-line numbers as part of health warning labels on tobacco product packaging. “For smoking and smokeless forms of tobacco products, the words ‘Tobacco causes cancer’ and ‘Tobacco causes painful death’ shall appear in white font on a red background and the words ‘Quit today call — 1800-11-2356’ shall appear in white font on a black background,” said Binoy Mathew of Voluntary Health Association of India, an organisation that works in the area of tobacco control. Pictorial warnings The current pictorial warnings on both sides of packages of cigarettes, bidis and all forms of chewing tobacco products in India came into effect from April 2016, following the direction of the Rajasthan High Court and subsequently the Supreme Court. They have been in effect for almost two years. India’s current international ranking for package warnings is number three in the world, as outlined in the October 2016 Canadian Cancer Society’s ‘Cigarette Package Health Warning International Status Report’, that ranked 205 countries worldwide.
Source :  https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/helpline-for-tobacco-users/article25032865.ece

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