The Indian government decided to health warnings for smokes

Displays with effects of tobacco smoking will become mandatory for all tobacco products that are sold in India, it doesn’t matter whether they are produced by local producers or are imported from any other countries.

According to government, the health warning shall appear in white font color on a red background (consisting of 100% magenta + 100% yellow) and will embody a pictorial representation of the ill effects of tobacco. The specified health warning message will be in black font color on a white background and should be printed in easy to read font. The notification adds that the warning must occupy at least 50% of top area of the larger size of packaging, the front and back of a cigarette packet.

Moreover, the health warning shall be 3.5 cm and 4 cm. As it was affirmed, such dimensions for warnings will ensure that the warning is clearly seen Also, the messages of warnings ought to be in English and regional languages.

If for packs of cigs this dimension isn’t a problem, for the Bidi makers it is a real difficulty. Bidi is famous Indian cheap cigarettes that, along with gutkha, are widely used by the local smokers.

As they are covered by a thin paper it is a problem to place any warning on them, at least of the producers of Bidi smokes keep to this opinion.

The problem of placing of the warnings on packs was discussed from July 2006 and only recently the government has decided to implement the law.

However, Bidi makers have totally different plans regarding the new law. Even after the government has confirmed its decision, Bidi makes affirmed that at the moment they cannot respect this rule because of unclear ministerial instructions, inability to change the machinery quickly, excessive old stock, and unemployment.

Of course, this law will influence their productivity and market share, because around 700-800 billion bidis are produced each year in India as compared to 100 billion of cigarettes. Also, studies prove that bidi smokers are at a higher risk of early death (93%) as compared to cigarette smokers (42%).

Placing of the warning pictures that will contain graphical images of the effects of tobacco smoking is highly welcomed by P C Gupta, director of the Healis Sekhsaria Institute for Public Health. P.C. Gupta said that those pictures will be understood by illiterates and by those who do not understand the written warnings.

Representatives of the tobacco industry clearly do not want implementation, he adds. There is an attempt to create confusion and generate empathy by claiming that the welfare of the bidi workers will be affected adversely by pictorial warnings. These are just excuses.