Government asks BCCI to take measures to prevent tobacco substitute advertisements by sportspeople

The Union Health Ministry has urged the BCCI and the Sports Authority of India to take steps to prevent tobacco and alcohol substitute advertisements by sportspersons, saying they are role models for millions of youth not only in the country but across the world. In a letter to Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Chairman Roger Binny and SAI DG Sandip Pradhan, Director General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr Atul Goel on Thursday said that Sportspeople, especially cricketers, are role models for young people to promote a healthy, active and productive lifestyle.

“The BCCI aims to establish policies, roadmaps and guidelines for the promotion of the game of cricket (and its governance) keeping in mind the Indian cricket players and fans… and it is disheartening to see substitute advertisements for tobacco and/or alcohol-related products by some well-known cricketers and also famous actors during cricket events like IPL,” Goel said.

“Taking a considered view of the issue, the BCCI can take positive steps to prevent such ersatz advertising of tobacco and/or alcohol related products by sportspersons,” he said.

The DGHS has suggested measures such as signing an anti-tobacco ‘Declaration of Interest’ form, not promoting/advertising in stadiums or events organized by or partnering with the BCCI and issuing directive(s) to sportspersons under the ambit of the BCCI to refrain from surrogate promotion/partnership / advertising of tobacco and related products.

“Further, it is requested not to allow such surrogate advertisements by other celebrities at BCCI sporting events like IPL. I hope you understand that the celebrities involved in these surrogate advertisements are followed as role models by millions of youth, not just within the country, but across the world,” said Goel.

Such measures will not only help reduce tobacco consumption, especially among young people, but will also reinforce a positive image of sportspeople as advocates of health and fitness and continue to uphold the highest standards of integrity and responsibility in sport, he said. .

The DGHS stated that tobacco consumption is the only risk factor common to the four main groups of non-communicable diseases – cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic lung diseases and diabetes.

India ranks second in tobacco-related deaths across the world, with nearly 13.5 lakh preventable deaths recorded every year. Furthermore, tobacco-related cancer constitutes 33 percent of all cancer cases in India, with almost 50 percent in men and 17 percent in women attributed to tobacco.

Various surveys have found that the age of initiation of tobacco consumption in India is just seven years, Goel said in the letter.

To address the issue of tobacco control, the government of India launched the National Tobacco Control Program (NTCP) in 2007-08 with the aim of creating awareness about the harmful effects of tobacco consumption, reducing the production and supply of tobacco products and ensure effective implementation of the provisions of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003, and the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act (PECA), 2019.

It also aims to help people stop smoking and facilitate the implementation of tobacco prevention and control strategies advocated by the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

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