Rich Men to Boost up Anti-Smoking Campaigns
Posted on July 25, 2008 in Current Affairs by Danteshwari
Two world’s richest men will boost up China and India’s anti-tobacco as well as cessation program. Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg have pledged $500 million to fight out the world-wide tobacco epidemic. Most of this money will be spent in middle and low income countries like India, China, Russia, Bangladesh and Russia.
Both, Bloomsberg and Gates were in favor of raising taxes on tobacco products, thus making it unaffordable to those who were poor. They also wanted the banning of cigarette advertisements, creation of smoke-free spaces as well as the curbing of exhibiting heroes who smoke cigarette in movies as they may become role models for teenagers.
The Union Health Minister has asked Shah Rukh Khan to avoid smoking on the screen. He has also written to Union Finance Minister, P.Chidambaram to raise excise duty and taxes on cigarettes as well as other tobacco products.He has announced a ban on smoking in public places including offices from October 2.
Bloomberg and Gates felt that unless and until urgent action was initiated against consumption of tobacco, about one billion people, out of which more than two-thirds live in developing countries, could die from tobacco-caused illnesses in this coming century.
Apart from the grant, the Gates Foundation will extend support to complimentary efforts to check high rates of tobacco consumption in countries such as India and China. Efforts will also be on to curtail the tobacco epidemic from sprouting in Africa as well.
The foundation also intends to speed up the implementation of MPOWER package of tobacco strategies meant to control the use of tobacco and which have proved to be successful. Also, the foundation hopes to build upon economic evidence to support the control of tobacco over the coming two year.
The component, consisting of six packages, includes the monitoring of tobacco usage and policies meant, giving adequate warnings about how tobacco can prove to be dangerous, protecting non-smokers from smoke, aiding in quitting smoking, enforcement of ban on tobacco advertisement and increase tobacco taxation.
The tobacco epidemic in a country like India is serious. About 250 million people are tobacco users. Both China and India need special attention, according to Bill Gates. Bloomberg felt it was difficult to deal with China, as the companies manufacturing cigarettes are owned by the Government, which gets much of its revenue from them.
Source: TOI, July 25th,2008
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