At the program, Dr. Radhika Thapaliya, Director of the Health Education, Information and Communication Center, said that everyone should be aware as there may be obstacles in the implementation of laws related to tobacco products.
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Stakeholders have expressed concerns about the implementation of laws to increase taxes on tobacco products and print 100 percent Pictorial Health Warning (PHWS) messages on cigarette packets.
At a press conference organized by the Health News Foundation on Wednesday, they stressed that everyone should be aware as the tobacco industry could seize the opportunity due to the current political instability in the country. In the
program, Dr. Radhika Thapaliya, Director of the Health Education, Information and Communication Center, said that everyone should be aware as there may be obstacles in the implementation of the law on tobacco products. She says, "Rules such as not being allowed to sell and distribute tobacco products to those under 18 years of age, not being allowed to sell by showing them, and not being allowed to sell only one piece are not being implemented."
She said that the situation in Madhesh is worrying after reaching seven provinces and conducting research. "Gutkha was found in the pockets of young students of a school in Madhesh and they were eating it like chocolate," she said. "After being told that it cannot be kept in the school canteen like this, when I went back a week later, I saw that it was removed." Therefore, if we adopt more than one method of health warning, it can be prevented.' She said that studies have shown that increasing taxes on such substances reduces the rate of use.
Thapaliya said that smoking in public places has now disappeared compared to before. 'Until a few years ago, smoking was seen in public places, even while walking in tempos.' Now that has disappeared,' she said, 'However, the number of smokers is still high in hotels and cafes. Such programs are successful only if the people in the community develop.'
Gopikrishna Regmi, Under-Secretary of Law at the Ministry of Health and Population, has said that everyone's goal is to make the country tobacco-free. He also said that according to the directive issued by the ministry on Magh 21 last year, a system has been introduced to print 100 percent warning pictures on the packaging of tobacco products. But the industrialists have filed a lawsuit against it, which has delayed implementation.
Action Nepal President Ananda Bahadur Chand said that Nepal has reached this point by overcoming obstacles to the law made to control tobacco products. ‘The act of delaying by filing a lawsuit in court is universal,’ he said, ‘Even when industrialists file a lawsuit against the law, the Supreme Court has often ruled in favor of health. ’
According to Chand, 90 percent of the pictorials have been effective, so the 100 percent pictorial policy should be made successful in Nepal.
Similarly, Public Health Administrator Upendra Dhungana presented technical information about 100 percent pictorials and the ‘plain packaging’ system on tobacco products, as well as the current status of implementation.
Praveen Dhakal, President of the Health News Foundation, informed that the program was organized to bring public health issues back to the center as they had been neglected after the Gen-G movement.
The government had issued the ‘Directive on Printing and Marking Warning Messages on Tobacco Products, Packets, Wrappers, Boxes and Parcels, Packaging, 2081’ in Magh last year. The current status of the implementation of pictorial health warnings was presented.
How have pictorial health warnings affected people. Various people presented their views on the challenges faced by industries while trying to make PHWS effective.
What is plain packaging?
Its main objective is to reduce the attractiveness of tobacco products, especially among young people, and to make health warnings more effective. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), tobacco consumption kills eight million people worldwide every year. Of these, more than seven million die from tobacco products such as cigarettes, bidis, snuff, etc. In addition, second-hand smoke kills more than 1.2 million people every year, even among nonsmokers.
