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Activity Report for member organizations to be uploaded on the AFTC website

The activity report of you organization should be submitted in the

Title of the Report: National level media workshop for tobacco control
Date of the Activity: 16th December 2009
Principal organization name: Healis Sekhsaria Institute for Public Health
Supporting agencies and partners’ names: Salaam Bombay Foundation, TATA Memorial Hospital.
Aims and Objectives:
1. To sensitize media to current issues in tobacco control.
2. To highlight activities being conducted by tobacco companies for surrogate promotion of the brands.
3. To highlight legal and financial implications of activities being undertaken by tobacco companies.

Target Audience: Media personnel
Chief Invites: Dr. P. C. Gupta, Director, Healis – Sekhsaria Institute for Public Health
Total No of participants: (8 Mainlines, 39 Regionals, 3 Electronic Channels, 1 Radio Channel,
4 Magazines and 1 Wire Agency)
Various activities conducted and details:

The following table gives a brief account of the activities at the workshop.





On 16th December 2009, Healis – Sekhsaria Institute for Public Health organized a one day National Level Media Workshop at Hotel Ambassador, Mumbai. Dr Neha Rai welcomed all the speakers and media persons to the event.

The workshop started with the presentation of Dr P.C.Gupta, Director, Healis – Sekhsaria Institute for Public Health. Dr P. C. Gupta informed media persons about the current laws and regulations related to the tobacco control in India. He spoke about the key provisions of the Tobacco Act of India and highlighted how tobacco misuse can be prevented among the users and non users of tobacco alike through effective of point of sale ads and effective pictorial health warnings. He further said that use of English and one more regional language warnings on the packs would be more effective in bringing awareness among smokers.

Dr. Chaturvedi spoke about the origins of tobacco in India and highlighted the challenges in awareness of the current law regarding tobacco industry. While speaking on the occasion he said that the situation is worsening due to use of ineffective pictorial warnings and irresponsible lobbying of the industry in the dilution of law. He also said that the use of tobacco can be limited through use of effective pictorial warnings, prohibiting surrogate advertising and limiting the aggressive marketing initiatives by the industry. He also spoke about the need to encourage the tobacco users to quit and provide them with moral support instead of isolating them.
	Ms. Seema Sood focused on how the youth is highest users of tobacco and gutka and pointed out that they are influenced by peer pressure, parental smoking, and the urge to emulate screen idols. She said that the media should exercise control by prohibiting surrogate ads, and limit the aggressive marketing activities of the manufacturers through product innovations, attractive packaging, easy availability, etc. She also pointed out the physical and psychological and behavioural problems affecting youth due to tobacco.

While sharing his experience with media persons, Mr. Deepak Kumar said that the tobacco industry should discharge its social responsibility by educating the public regarding the harmful effects that tobacco use can cause.

The presentation by speakers was followed by an open discussion, where following questions were roused by the participants:
What was the sample size for the survey? How difficult it was for Mr. Deepak Kumar to quit smoking? How many youths are affected by use of tobacco in India? Why is it necessary to have changes in the current effective pictorial warnings? Can you elaborate on the legal issues relating to the tobacco industry? What are the efforts undertaken by the organizations to tackle the issue? Can you suggest some more rehabilitation centres where people can quit smoking? Which is the state most affected by the issue? Is there any medicine or any research being done to find a medicine which can help in quitting smoking? Is there any survey to tell if the smokers have increased or decreased after the change in pictorial warnings? What do we do regarding people who smoke or eat tobacco to kill hunger and are poor? The event concluded with vote of thanks to all the speakers and participants by Dr Kunal Oswal.