From September, all cigarette packs and tobacco products sold in India will carry a toll-free helpline number along with a new set of pictorial and text warnings that will cover 85% of the packs of such products, according to a notification issued on Tuesday by the Health Ministry. The products include cigarette, bidi, and chewing tobacco packs.
The text warnings to be printed on the packs are: “Tobacco causes painful death” and “Tobacco causes cancer”, in large capital letters in white against a red background. The helpline number – 1800-11-2356 – should be printed in white letters on a black background, the notification said.
The helpline number, which the government launched on May 31, 2016, and calls a “quit-line” number, is intended to help users give up the tobacco habit.
The amended guidelines are aimed at amplifying the warnings and highlighting the ill-effects of tobacco consumption, a health ministry official told PTI.
Last week, the Health Ministry had said that the existing pictorial warnings, which cover 85% of the packet area, would continue for five more months, till August 31.
You’ve read Scroll.
Now help sustain it
Scroll is funded by readers, not corporate owners. If you believe our work matters, support our newsroom. Become a member today!
We’re not driven by clicks or corporate interests – just honest, independent reporting. Keep us going. Support Scroll today!