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Our Bureau,

New Delhi April 24 The Government will set up a national regulatory authority to monitor and implement tobacco control laws. The announcement was made by the Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, in the Capital on Tuesday.

The Minister said that a dedicated national programme for tobacco control would be instituted under the 11th Five-Year Plan, under which the authority will come up.

Creating Awareness

The programme will also provide for tobacco testing laboratories regulating content at the State or district levels. A national level public awareness campaign will also be part of the programme.

"India has been a forerunner in the fight against the tobacco epidemic which claims over 2,000 lives every day. In order to curb this epidemic, we have enacted comprehensive tobacco control legislation. Most of these provisions under this legislation, like ban on smoking in public places, prohibition on sale to minors and ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship have been notified, " said the Minister to participants of a programme organised by the American Cancer Society (ACS).

"We have also moved for a ban on display of tobacco products or their use in movies and television programmes in India. This announcement of my Ministry of Health & Family Welfare faced immense opposition from various fronts. However, we are firm on this stand and the Government is committed in ensuring that films and television do not become a medium for promoting tobacco products to the vulnerable youth audience," added the Minister.

He also said that his Ministry, one of the first countries to ratify the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in February 2004, had received the Luther L Terry Award.

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