Why we need more celebrities to curb tobacco use

India has 266.8 million tobacco users, the second-largest consumer base in the world, which includes both smoking and smokeless tobacco users. According to WHO, 12 per cent of the world’s smokers are found in India. These statistics throw light on the magnitude of health-related challenges that tobacco usage is causing directly and indirectly. In fact, about 1.2 million deaths per year are attributed to second-hand smoke (SHS). Non-smokers exposed to this are at an increased risk of developing heart disease by 25–30 per cent and stroke by 20–30 per cent. The costs continue to pile up. Treatments for cancer, heart diseases and stroke are quite expensive, adding to the distress for the economically weaker sections of society. At the national level, the economic cost attributed to tobacco use from all recorded deaths between 2017-2018 for people over 35 was a staggering ₹1,773.4 billion.

The government has instituted various laws to curb tobacco usage, including larger graphic warnings on packs, prohibiting their sale near educational institutions or to minors, mandating Designated Smoking Areas (DSA) for certain places, banning smoking in public spaces, fining those who spit out chewed tobacco and banning the direct or indirect advertisements of tobacco or tobacco-related products. One area in need of immediate increased attention is surrogate advertising and the role of celebrity endorsements.

Manufacturers use brand extensions to build associations and to advertise, as we have seen with the “mouth freshener” advertisements. These are usually sold under the same brand name and with very little differentiation. Consumers, especially young people, are subliminally lured and convinced to make a positive association between the two. Meanwhile, well-known personalities are misled into believing that their endorsement is for a tobacco-free sister product so their conscience can rest as there is no law being broken.

Even though a strict ban has been laid down by the government on direct or indirect means of tobacco advertising, brand extension promotions are a loophole-exploiting practice that circumvents the law. However, despite the ambiguity, most of us can agree that the practice is decidedly unethical. Overlooking this aspect would be an unfortunate negation of one’s social responsibilities, especially by public role models with massive influence and reach, who therefore, need to be more accountable.

A simple endorsement can undo years of efforts and investments by governments in trying to control tobacco use prevalence intended to save lives and families from the burden of deadly diseases. One may reasonably ask how a few actors can make millions of Indians overcome their habits? Popular culture and those at the top of it continue to have a strong sway over individual behaviour and choices. Especially when you consider that more than 50 per cent smokers start using tobacco before the age of 10 and that one-third of youth experiment with tobacco as a result of Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship (TAPS).

Tobacco is the only consumer product in the world to kill every second user according to WHO. As a cancer surgeon, I have seen first-hand the impact it has not just on patients but also their families. The immense pain of avoidable deaths is compounded by the financial burdens and other challenges that come with it.

Creative expression and freedom of speech should also be seen in conjunction with the right to life and good health. If we don’t address the tobacco use, we could be staring at death tolls more than that of Covid-19 each year. The much older tobacco epidemic, which worsens Covid-19 and other illnesses, continues unabated. In light of this, it is essential that we keep the spirit of collective action alive.

Our country has a significant youth population. With global flashpoints like climate change, our young people already worry about the world they are to inherit. The costs of tobacco are an avoidable drain on resources that should be instead engaged in improving this world. Role models should not underestimate their contributions here. I hope to see them leading from the front and using their voice to leave behind a richer legacy — one of a tobacco-free and smoke-free India as the future of our country.