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 India has stringent laws to deter tobacco use, which the government
says kills more than 900,000 people every year. But the country
still has 106 million adult smokers, second only to China according
to the World Health Organization.
In an advisory to state governments, the health ministry said such
devices were a "great health risk" and it was possible that children
and non-smokers using such products could switch to cigarettes once
they get addicted to nicotine.
The government took a position on such products with tobacco giant
Philip Morris planning to launch its iQOS smoking device in India.
Reuters reported in June that Philip Morris was working towards
achieving iQOS's acceptability as a reduced risk product in the
country. [L3N1TA2DN]
Philip Morris says the sleek, penlike iQOS heats but does not burn
tobacco, producing a nicotine-containing vapor rather than smoke and
making it less harmful than conventional cigarettes. The company
wants to one day stop selling cigarettes altogether.
The health ministry asked Indian states to "ensure" that electronic
nicotine delivery systems including e-cigarettes - devices which use
a nicotine-laced liquid - as well as heat-not-burn devices are not
sold, manufactured, imported or advertised.
Such devices, the ministry said, "are a great health risk to public
at large, especially to children, adolescents, pregnant women and
women of reproductive age".
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Philip Morris did not respond to Reuters queries. ITC, India's
leading cigarette maker which also sells e-cigarettes, also did not
respond.
A senior health official said the government was "sending a strong
message" about how such products were harmful for the public.
Last year, a New Delhi resident filed a public interest litigation
in the Delhi High Court calling for regulation of e-cigarettes. The
court last week asked the federal health ministry to say when it
would announce regulatory measures for such devices.
"The case was filed to bring out the absolute absence of regulation.
It is now critical that stringent implementation measures are
taken," said Bhuvanesh Sehgal, a Delhi-based lawyer who argued in
the case.
In recent years, the Indian government has intensified its
tobacco-control efforts, raising cigarette taxes, ordering companies
to print bigger health warnings on packs and introducing a
quit-smoking helpline.
(Editing by Sanjeev Miglani/Mark Heinrich)
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