India joins tobacco ban campaign

The Press Trust of India reports that the cabinet has approved the drafting of legislation to ban tobacco advertising and agreed to ratify an international anti-smoking convention.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was quoted as saying a bill is being prepared to ban advertising of tobacco products in the print and electronic media.

Swaraj also announced that India will ratify the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

India becomes the seventh nation to do so.

The convention prohibits advertising promotion of tobacco products and sponsorship by tobacco companies of sporting and other events.

It also hopes to introduce price and tax measures to reduce tobacco demand, measures to provide non-smokers protection from tobacco smoke, regulation of the contents of tobacco products and the prohibition of sale of tobacco products to children.

The convention will become effective three months after it is ratified by at least 40 nations.

An Indian government statement said there are about 1.1 billion smokers in the world, of which 300 mln are in developing countries, with India accounting for a third of the world's annual three million smoking-related deaths.