Pictorial warnings on cigarette packs from March

Ridma DISSANAYAKE

Arrangements have been finalised to include pictorial health warnings on cigarette packets from March 2013, the Health Ministry said yesterday.

The pictorial warnings will underline the risks and dangers associated with tobacco smoking, a ministry spokesman said.

Health Minister Maithiripala Sirisena said the gazette notification in this regard will come into effect from March 2013 and he would not be influenced to change his decision by any power. “I will never bow down to the tobacco industry or any other company related to the tobacco industry,” he said.

When this rule is implemented in Sri Lanka, it would be mandatory for the industry to include graphic pictorial warnings such as oral cancer, wasted gums, children afflicted due to second-hand smoke etc. Covering at least 80 percent of the pack by those pictorial warnings is also essential.

Around 10,000 to 15,000 new oral cancer patients are reported annually. A majority are heavy smokers.

Two persons in Sri Lanka die daily from oral cancer. Over 85 percent among oral cancer patients receiving treatment at the Cancer Hospital are also smokers, a Health Ministry spokesman said. Meanwhile, teachers and students of Bomoriya Central College signed a petition against tobacco companies and handed this over to the Health Minister recently.

The minister requested the students to advise their fathers and brothers who smoke, of the consequences of their bad habit and urge them to give up smoking.