|
India has begun printing pictorial health warnings on cigarette and other tobacco products, including photos of diseased lungs and gums, as part of efforts to cut smoking, officials said Monday.
Under the measures, pictures of scorpions (a symbol of danger), diseased lungs, decayed gums and skeletons will have to be displayed by manufacturers on packets of cigarettes, bidis and chewing tobacco.
"We hope the gory pictures on the packaging might deter people from consuming tobacco," Sutapa Biswas, executive director of the Cancer Foundation of India, told the reporters.
Smoking and chewing tobacco kill a million people every year, according to the Cancer Foundation of India.
Under the new rules, the pictures should cover at least 40 percent of a pack's main display area. Countries including Brazil, Canada, Singapore and Thailand have already been plastering picture warnings on cigarette packs.
In October 2008, India banned smoking in public places and the sale of tobacco products near educational institutes and hospitals -- but the regulations are blatantly flouted in many places.
點擊查看更多雙語新聞
(Agencies)
|
印度官方于本周一稱，為減少吸煙人數，印度今后將在香煙和其它煙制品外包裝上印制健康警示圖標，包括被侵蝕的肺和牙齦的圖片。
該措施規定，生產商必須在香煙、雪茄以及嚼煙的外包裝上印制蝎子（危險的象征）、患病的肺、被腐蝕的牙齦和骷髏的圖片。
印度癌癥基金會的常務董事蘇塔帕?比斯瓦在接受記者采訪時說：“我們希望香煙包裝上的這些令人厭惡的圖片可以使人遠離香煙。”
根據印度癌癥基金會的統計，每年有100萬人死于吸煙和嚼煙引發的疾病。
新規則規定，警示圖片應至少占據外包裝主要部位40%的面積。巴西、加拿大、新加坡、泰國等國家已經開始在香煙包裝上印制警示圖片。
印度于去年10月開始在公共場所禁煙，并禁止在教育機構和醫院附近銷售香煙，但在很多場所，人們公然無視該規定。
相關閱讀
專家建議：香煙盒上應該印有警示圖片
新年戒煙 你能堅持嗎？
美國：經濟危機讓煙民吸煙量增加
倫敦：吸煙者不能領養小孩
研究：吸煙傷身又傷腦
（英語點津 實習生許雅寧編輯）
|
