Kathmandu, October 4

Health Minister Gagan Thapa today said he would push for implementation of 90 per cent coverage area of pictorial health warning on packets of tobacco products.

Speaking at an interaction on ‘Implementation of 90 per cent pictorial health warning’ organised by Action Nepal in the capital, he said, “No one can stop us from implementing the provisions clearly articulated by the law. We will do it,” Minister Thapa asserted.

Although the government amended the ‘Directives for Printing and Labelling of Warning Message and Graphics in the Boxes, Packets, Wrappers, Cartons, Parcels and Packaging of Tobacco Products-2011’ to increase coverage area of pictorial warning to 90 per cent from the existing 75 per cent, it has yet to be fully implemented by tobacco industries.

Health Secretary Senendra Raj Upreti said, “The ministry will take necessary initiatives to put the law into effect and is committed to cause the tobacco industries to abide by the provisions.”

Ananda Bahadur Chand, chairman of Action Nepal, called on the government and all stakeholders to enforce the law to reduce tobacco consumption and its burden on public health.

“Pictorial health warning on packets of tobacco products have proven to be an effective tool for educating smokers and non-smokers alike about the health risks of tobacco use. It not only prevents youth from starting to use tobacco but also encourages users to quit it,” he informed.

According to the findings of a study ‘Monitoring Effectiveness of PHW in Nepal: What We Have Found and What We Have Learnt’ conducted in 2015, as many as 55 per cent of current smokers reduced the amount of cigarettes smoked due to the pictorial warnings on the wrappers and packets of tobacco products.

The respondents said they reduced the number of cigarettes smoked from 11 to five sticks per day after tobacco products started carrying health warning on packets.

“The findings give testimony to the need to enforce 90 per cent coverage area of pictorial health warning on packets of tobacco products,” said Chand.

According to a government report, current smoking prevalence among male and female is 51.9 per cent and 13 per cent respectively. More than 25,000 people die of tobacco related diseases every year.