(April 20, 2016 New Delhi, India and New York, USA) – Global health experts Vital Strategies today congratulated the Government of India on the launch of a powerful, multi-channel campaign to warn people about the health, social and economic harms of smokeless tobacco, which is used by tens of millions of Indians every day. The campaign focuses on a Public Service Announcement (PSA) entitled Tears You Apart, which features the experiences of smokeless tobacco victims and their families. The PSA is being broadcast on state and private TV channels and will run in cinemas and on TV under India’s Film Rule. In addition, the campaign will feature on the exterior of trains on major routes across eight states. The campaign was developed and implemented by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with technical support from Vital Strategies.
According to Mr. C.K. Mishra, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, “The Government is committed to ensuring healthcare and social safety for all Indians. Warning people about the dangers of tobacco is a key part of our strategy, using mass media campaigns, Film Rule, and all other methods of Behaviour Change Communication. Tears You Apart shows that tobacco-related suffering isn’t limited to disease and disability among patients; their loved ones also share immense health, emotional and financial pains and hardships. It was important for us to highlight this reality in this campaign.”
José Luis Castro, President and Chief Executive Officer, Vital Strategies, commented: “We congratulate the Government of India on this campaign and are delighted that it will reach so many Indians across a variety of media. It is particularly important that it will be used to counter positive images of tobacco use in films and TV programs. India is facing an increasing burden of non-communicable disease for which tobacco use is a leading risk factor, and an economic burden from tobacco-related disease of more than 1.4 trillion rupees every year. This powerful, emotive campaign empowers victims and their families to show how smokeless tobacco tears lives apart. We hope India’s millions of smokeless users will respond to the real faces of tobacco in this campaign and in India’s new graphic pack warnings, and decide to quit.”
The Tears You Apart Campaign
Tears You Apart is being broadcast on the channels of public service broadcaster Doordarshan – across all states and regional languages – until early June 2016. The PSA is being broadcast on 66 satellite channels until April 23rd. This includes major private TV channels such as CNN/IBN, Colors Tv, India Today, Sony Entertainment, Star Plus, VH1, Zee TV, and Zee Cinema. There is also a significant outdoor campaign, with messages and images from Tears You Apart featured on the exterior of railway trains on major routes across eight states (Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Punjab) until September 2016.
In addition, “Tears You Apart” will soon will be broadcast in cinemas and on TV under the “Film Rule”. An innovative and integral part of India’s tobacco control act, the Film Rule requires that warnings about tobacco’s harms are shown before and during films and television shows that portray tobacco consumption.
Tears You Apart was filmed in B. Barooah Cancer Institute in Guwahati, Assam and at the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The PSA features real victims who are suffering from horrific cancers and disfigurements as a result of their chewing addiction. It also includes the victims’ relatives, who describe how these illnesses have destroyed careers, family life, and added to financial burdens.
Tobacco use in India – a growing health and economic problem
According to The Tobacco Atlas, nearly a quarter (23.2 percent) of adult males, 3.2 percent of adult females, 5.8 percent of boys and 2.4 percent of girls smoke tobacco in India. Smokeless tobacco use is even more popular, especially among lower socio-economic groups and women. More than a quarter (26 percent) of adults use smokeless tobacco – one of the highest levels of prevalence in the world. In total, more than 2,542,000 children and more than 120,000,000 adults in India use tobacco each day. As the use of all forms of tobacco has increased, so has tobacco-related disease and premature death. Tobacco is the cause of 14.3 percent of male deaths and 4.7 percent of female deaths in India, killing over 981,100 Indian citizens every year. A study led by The University of York found that 74 percent of global deaths related to smokeless tobacco occur in India.
According to The Tobacco Atlas, the regulation of smokeless tobacco products should be tightly integrated into tobacco control policies. In addition, specific communication strategies must be effected to change cultural beliefs and historic perceptions around smokeless tobacco.
India’s government acknowledges that tobacco-related disease costs the Indian economy over 1.4 trillion rupees every year – just among adults aged between 35 and 69. This was 1.16 percent of GDP in 2011 and 12 percent more than the combined central and state government expenditure on health in 2011-2012. The total cost across all age groups – including illness caused by tobacco use and exposure to second-hand smoke among children and the elderly – is even higher.
Research has shown that mass media campaigns and graphic health warnings on tobacco packs are one of the most effective means to prompt people to stop smoking. They are 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, of which Vital Strategies is a principal partner.
The Tears You Apart PSA and stills and transcripts from the campaign are available upon request.
About Vital Strategies
Vital Strategies envisions a world where every person is protected by a strong public health system. Our team combines evidence-based strategies with innovation to help develop sound public health policies, manage programs efficiently, strengthen data systems, conduct research, and design strategic communication campaigns for policy and behavior change. Vital Strategies was formed when The Union North America and World Lung Foundation joined forces. It is an affiliate of The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union).
To find out more, please visit vitalstrategies.org or Twitter @VitalStrat
For further information or to arrange an interview with a Vital Strategies public health and tobacco control expert, please contact Tracey Johnston, Vital Strategies, at +44.7889.081.170 or tjohnston@vitalstrategies.org