MUMBAI: It seems like the government will do all that is possible to make sure that citizens of India are healthy both in terms of their economic stituation and health. With pictorial warnings being made mandatory on all tobacco products, it still remains to be seen whether manufactures are going to feel the impact and moreover will the consumer behaviour change.
 
This could possibly happen to you. Thats what the health ministry and World Health Organisation wants you to know when you light up your next cigrette. Pictorial warnings are being made mandatory on all tobacco products. All cigarette will have to carry the pictorial warnings, covering at least 40 % of the principal display area of the pack. The packs also, cannot carry any message that directly or indirectly promotes a specific tobacco brand or tobacco use in general. Although the use of strong warnings like skull and cross bones or a cancer-disfigured face is optional, it is mandatory to have a scorpion and diseased lungs on all tobacco products.
 
The government order, issued last month, came despite stiff resistance from manufacturers. Last August, the government asked manufacturers of cigarette, bidi and gutka products to display pictorial warnings so as to sensitise the public to the hazards of tobacco consumption. However, the order could not be implemented even by the deadline on the first of December last year. Because a meeting of a Group of Ministers, chaired by Pranab Mukherjee, who then decided to further extend it to 31 May, 2009. This time the manufacturers' attempts to lobby and get this deadline too deferred failed. And Manufacturers are worried that this is coming at a time when the going is good.
 
Cigarette sales have shot up drastically by 9.6% in the past 4 years

Pinakiranjan Mishra, Partner & Industry leader, Retail & Consumer Product Practice, Ernst & Young, said, " Even in the long term there will only be a marginal decline in sales".
 
But manfacturers also don't want to openly admit that these warnings may scare off some of their profits. Cigarette Manufacturing Companies however fear that the market of smuggled cigarettes may grow. We spoke to ITC and they said, "Bonafide domestic manufactureres will be put to a significant disadvantage in relation to the increasing quantum of illegal cigarettes smuggled into the country, which is today estimated at around 1billion sticks a month. Given that these illegal cigarettes do not carry any health warnings, it may mislead consumers into believing that the packets with the Indian graphic health warnings are inferior to the illegal packets.
 
In India, over 57% of the male population in the age group of 15-49 years use tobacco in some form and over 10% of women in this age group also smoke. India records about 800,000 tobacco deaths every year or 2,200 deaths a day. According to WHO Globally 5.4 million people die of ill effects of tobacco on an average of one death every 6 seconds. At the current rate, the death toll is projected to reach 8.3 million by 2030. More than one billion smokers which is about 84 % live in developing countries. By 2030, 70 % of the deaths attributable to tobacco will occur in the developing countries.
 
57% of men consume some form of Tobacco. 10.9% women also use tobacco. 800,000 tobacco deaths every year. 5.4 mn people die of ill effects. Average: One Death every 6 seconds. Death toll expected to reach 8.3mn by 2030 . 84% smokers live in developing countries. By 2030 70% of deaths due to tobacco likely.
 
Globally, 17 countries have introduced Graphic Health Warnings on tobacco products and India will be the 18th country to implement it. This time around with the government coming down hard on cigarette manufacturing companies and cigarette vendors there seems to be no way out but to implement the rule.
 
Flouting the rules would attract fines up to Rs.5,000 with or without two years of imprisonment for the manufacturer. The dealer or seller can be fined up to Rs.1,000 with or without a year's imprisonment. On subsequent offences, the fine would be Rs.10,000 for the manufacturer and he could be jailed for five years. The fine would be Rs.3,000 for the seller and he may be jailed for two years.

 The government chose World No Tobacco Day to issue guidelines to all the companies clearly asking people to quit smoking. Now those who smoke will have to choose between sexy Shah Rukh Khan puffing away his tension during a match, or a picture of what tobacco does to your lungs.