Kathmandu, March 13:

Anti-tobacco campaigners are lobbying for the passage of a law to ban cigarette advertisments in media. They are not against cigarette yet, though.

“We have been campaigning against cigarette advertisments. Nepal and Indonesia are the only two countries in the region where such advertisments are still allowed. Things have not changed in spite of the ratification of Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC),” said Hom Lal Shrestha, General Secretary, Non-Smokers’ Rights Association of Nepal (NOSMORAN), talking with The Himalayan Times.

Going by the spirit of the FCTC which was ratified in November, the government could have gone ahead and banned tobacco advertisements in media, something which NOSMORAN has demanded lately.

Since such ban has not come, NOSMORAN has already met Speaker Subas Nembang and Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, among others, to urge them to do the needful. It has resented the pressure from powerful tobacco lobby.

The demand to proscribe tobacco adverts comes following imposition of such restrictions in Asian countries including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Maldives and Bhutan as far back as two years ago. “The FCTC was ratified on November 7 after much lobbying. Now we are confronting delay in the passage of the bill governing tobacco adverts,” Shrestha said, lamenting the way the Ministry of Health and Population is behaving.

However Dr Nirakarman Shrestha, Chief Specialist, MOHP, denied allegations that the government was against passage of the bill in question. “We have the draft. The rule demands soliciting views of other ministries before clearing the draft. Once we have the input from all quarters, I don’t see any reason why the bill may not be pushed,” Dr Shrestha said.

He debunked claims that tobacco lobby was trying to wield influence in delaying the longstanding bid to push the bill.

He clarified that while a law may finally come, it is too early to say to say how practical it may be to ban the adverts. “Havn’t we banned early marriages? How complete is the compliance?” Dr Shrestha queried.

This is something which has come up as an issue of concern, with NOSMORAN General Secretary Shrestha saying, what the general public want is immediate ban on instances of tobacco companies sponsoring sports and related events.