Note: World Lung Foundation united with The Union North America. From January 2016, the combined organization is known as “Vital Strategies.”
(New Delhi) ––A new tobacco control mass media campaign was launched this week to warn people about the effects of smoking on the heart. The campaign, called ‘Artery,’ which is being aired by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with technical support from World Lung Foundation depicts how smoking cigarettes and bidis leads to the build up of dangerous fatty deposits in the heart, leading to strokes, heart disease and heart attacks.
Smoking is estimated to cause 10 per cent of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and is the second leading cause of CVD, after high blood pressure. (1) According to WHO (2), heart disease and heart attacks are major causes of mortality in India, and smoking is a chief risk factor. As per the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS-India), 27.5 crore people use tobacco in India. Each year tobacco use kills about 1 million Indians, and one in ten deaths is caused by smoking. (3) Bidis are the most popular tobacco product used; Bidis comprise 48% of the tobacco market and cigarettes 14% in India. (4) Bidi and cigarette smokers die 6 to 10 years earlier than their non-smoking counterparts. (5) As per ICMR, the majority of the cardiovascular diseases and lung disorders are directly attributable to tobacco consumption.
Dr. Nandita Murukutla, Country Director, World Lung Foundation, said, “This Public Service Announcement (PSA), originally developed in Australia, has been rigorously pre-tested by WLF and Cancer Council Victoria in ten countries including India. In all countries, it emerged as one of the most effective PSAs for motivating smokers to quit. This version, adapted specifically to India, should have a very strong impact.”
Sandra Mullin, Senior Vice President, Policy and Communications, World Lung Foundation stated, “We are proud to provide support to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in the production of the ‘Artery’ campaign. In India, too many people suffer from the health harms caused due to bidi and cigarette smoking and campaigns such as this, would not only warn the public but will also urge them quit before it’s too late”.
Research has shown mass media campaigns are one of the most effective means to prompt people to stop smoking. It is one of the World Health Organization’s M-P-O-W-E-R (W=Warn) strategies to reduce tobacco consumption. M-P-O-W-E-R strategies are endorsed and promoted by the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, of which World Lung Foundation is a principal partner.
The ‘Artery’ TV and radio public service announcements are available upon request.
(1) Global Atlas on Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Control. Mendis S, Puska P, Norrving B editors. World Health Organization (in collaboration with the World Heart Federation and World Stroke Organization), Geneva 2011.
(2) www.who.int/cardiovascular_diseases/media/en/635.pdf – 320k; as accessed on 15 January 2014th.
(3) Global adult tobacco survey (GATS): India; 2009-2010.
(4) Sunley EM. India: The Tax Treatment of Bidis. New Delhi: Regional Office of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease; 2008.
(5) Jha P, Jacob B, Gajalakshmi V, Gupta P, Dhingra N, Kumar R, et al. A Nationally Representative Case-Control Study of Smoking and Death in India. The New England Journal of Medicine. 2008; 358; 1-11.