With the pictorial warnings on tobacco products not making the desirable impact,the Union Health Ministry is considering replacing them with new hard-hitting images,which it expects to send the message home. Ministry officials have zeroed in on four different images of a bent cigarette depicting impotency,a person wearing an oxygen mask,a picture showing mouth cancer and that of a heart affected by smoking. Out of these,two images (one each for chewing and non-chewing tobacco products) will soon be finalised. The new pictures are likely to be finalised soon and sent to the tobacco industry so that they get enough time to introduce them on the packets. Last time they raised the issue that they didnt get much time. We do not want the same crisis to surface this time too, said a senior ministry official. The ministry decided to change the images as the earlier ones an X-ray image on cigarette packs and that of a scorpion on smokeless tobacco products were not making an impact. In field tests,it was found out that the X-ray image was being perceived as a man wearing a black coat to many people. In fact not many knew that the image depicted affected lungs, added the official. The present images were therefore not enough to force people to quit the habit. The whole idea of introducing pictorial warnings was to force people kick the habit. However,it was seen that they were hardly making an impact, an official added. The pictorial warnings were introduced in 2008 after a lot of wrangling. Under court orders in February 2007,the government kept postponing it primarily due to pressure from the tobacco industry. While the deadline was shifted seven times,a GoM headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee,was formed to look into the matter. The GoM changed the pictures,making it milder as the tobacco companies had objected to the selection of strong images for display on their packets. Finally,the pictorial warnings on tobacco products became mandatory from May 31,the World No Tobacco Day last year. According to a provision,the ministry could change the pictures every year or in six months.
