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'Nationalising' tobacco - A possible policy to save millions

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'Nationalising' tobacco - A possible policy to save millions

Many found it an unusual conclusion (and some apparently radical) when speaking at the “Conference on Strategy Planning on Tobacco Control ” (in 2005) I suggested that “Nationalisation of the Tobacco Industry” is a possible solution to tackle the tobacco menace. Many jaws dropped and I could clearly see many mouths wide open on this suggestion; a few also labelled me as “Removed from the reality” and suggested me to become “Practical.”

 

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Should tobacco remain a consumer product? Any reasons?

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Should tobacco remain a consumer product? Any reasons?

I am often intrigued by the fact that how come a consumer product which kills five million people worldwide still enjoys the status of a legal product. What perplexes me further is that even most of the hardcore tobacco control workers are still not thinking about ending tobacco as a consumer product and are not considering it as one of the options. Why? I have failed to understand this till now. Some believe that it can not be done as tobacco is very much a part of day-to-day life, others parrot the tobacco companies rhetoric that there has to be "Freedom of choice" and still some others are so deeply involved in microscopic technicalities that they even fail to see what is the most obvious and basic. More so, even the international treaty on tobacco control (FCTC) fails to envisage an end date for tobacco and among its objectives does not consider phasing out/ending tobacco consumption. This is despite the fact that tobacco consumption and production is still increasing exponentially.

 

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Tobacco Facts

The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)

The FCTC is the first international treaty negotiated under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO), aimed at curbing tobacco-related deaths and disease.

The FCTC was unanimously adopted by 192 nations at the World Health Assembly (WHA) on 21st May 2003. Among its many tobacco control measures, the FCTC requires countries to impose restrictions on tobacco advertising, sponsorship and promotion, establish new packaging and labeling of tobacco products with strong health warnings, establish clean indoor air controls by imposing restrictions on smoking in public places and strengthening legislation to clamp down on illicit trade in tobacco products.