As one of the first signatories to the 2003 Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), Sri Lanka should have introduced pictorial warnings on tobacco product packages by 2008, but the delay in implementing this was due to debates arising at government level regarding questions of ‘priority’, said Chairman of National Authority of Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA), Professor Carlo Fonseka.
The FCTC was adopted by the World Health Assembly on 21 May 2003 and entered into force on 27 February 2005. Article 11 of the FCTC requires parties to the FCTC to implement effective measures to warn against the harmful impact of tobacco on all tobacco product packaging within three years after ratifying the FCTC.
Fonseka was speaking at an exhibition and seminar jointly organised by the National Cancer Institute, Cancer Care Association, and Jeewaka Foundation, held on Thursday (22) at the National Cancer Hospital premises in Maharagama. The main theme of the event was “The importance of introducing effective health warning labels on tobacco packaging to communicate the risks of tobacco use”.
Fonseka said surveys reveal most people in Sri Lanka do not buy as packets, but only one or two cigarettes at a time. “This fact meant debates arose regarding whether priority should be given to pushing through the pictorial warning regulation when most would only buy a cigarette or two from shops, hence not seeing the warnings on the packages”, he noted. While admitting Sri Lanka was behind schedule in enforcing the regulation, Fonseka added it would be enforced very soon, noting 8 pictorial warnings which would be used in cigarette packages were already with the Legal Draftsmen’s Department. He emphasised the need to bring in such regulations to deter smoking, noting that according to estimates, tobacco caused 100 million deaths worldwide in the 20th century, and if current trends continue, it was estimated to cause 1 billion deaths in the 21st century.
Dr. Sanath Wanigasooriya, Consultant Oncologist at the National Cancer Institute, stressed 95% of lung cancers were caused by smoking. According to statistics, 33% of males in Sri Lanka were smokers, while the female percentage was still relatively low at 0.9%. Tobacco is the second largest cause of deaths and morbidities caused from non-communicable diseases, while 30% of all cancers and 50% of all cancer related deaths were caused by smoking, according to Dr. Wanigasooriya.
“Countries such as Brazil, Canada, Singapore, and Thailand have obtained successful results from enforcing the pictorial warning regulation, and it is important for Sri Lanka to follow through with its implementation,” Dr. Wanigasooriya said.
http://www.nation.lk/2011/12/25/news6.htm
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