WHO: Tobacco kills 150 every hour in Southeast Asia

Tobacco use continues to be a major public health issue across the Southeast Asian region, including India, as it kills around 150 persons every hour, the WHO said on Monday, advocating making “plain packaging” of tobacco products mandatory.

The WHO said a good way to amplify the message that “tobacco kills”, and disrupt the psychology of tobacco consumption, is making plain packaging of tobacco products — also known as standardised packaging — mandatory.

Plain packaging involves the removing brand and promotional information from tobacco products, and replacing them with graphic health warnings, dull colour combinations, a brand name and a product or manufacturer’s name in standardised front.

Nearly 246 million people in the region’s 11 countries smoke tobacco and nearly 290 million use it in its smokeless forms. “Tobacco is leading to death of 1.3 million people across the region every year — the equivalent of 150 fatalities per hour,” Poonam Khetrapal Singh, WHO regional director for Southeast Asia said.