.... the brain is not a vessel to be filled,
It is something to be IGNITED

Cola or Tobacco: what must be banned?

In a memorandum delivered to the Indian Prime Minister and the Health Minster, Burning Brain Society has questioned the government if it had any scientific evidence that Cola consumption has resulted in even one death over the last 50 years. Comparing it with tobacco the NGO raised the point that it was well known that tobacco kills nearly one million people in India every year and yet there was no talk in the parliament on banning tobacco. BBS pointed out that if government could think of banning Cola without any known fatalities associated with cola consumption then why can’t the government initiate a plan to ban tobacco which is known to cause millions of deaths?

Read the open letter sent to the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh

BBS/PMO/0806/001
August 13, 2006


Dr. Manmohan Singh,
Prime Minister of India,
7, Race Course Road,
New Delhi

E-Mail: manmohansingh@sansad.nic.in
FAX: +91-11-23016857

IS THE GOVERNMENT PLANNING TO PREVENT A BILLION DEATHS THIS CENTURY?

From “Cola” to “Tobacco”

Dear Manmohan Singh’ji,

We are tracking the concerns of the parliament on “Cola” consumption with keenness. We are happy that our parliamentarians are showing great concern for “Public Health” and talking about banning/restricting “Cola” drinks. Legislative assemblies of many states and many other political leaders are also supporting the proposed ban on “Colas.”

Though the concern for public health is a welcome initiative but this also raises a serious question, “Do we have any scientific evidence that “Cola” consumption has resulted in even one death over the last 50 years?” Our search has shown, “No, there is no proof that consuming cola (Even pesticide laced) has directly resulted in any death, disease or disability.”

Now compare this with “Tobacco.” It is well known that tobacco consumption directly results in nearly a million deaths in India and five million deaths worldwide. The evidence is supported by tens of thousands of scientific research papers. Hospitals across India count 2500 dead bodies’ everyday resulting from tobacco related ailments. The body count is increasing every day. Tobacco is also the cause of hundreds of ailments besides being a contributory cause to poverty. It is quite sad to see that despite tobacco causing death and disease at such a wide scale still the parliament and our political leaders never talk about banning tobacco.

The question is; if we can think of banning “Cola” then why can’t we initiate a long-term plan to ban and eliminate tobacco which is known to cause millions of deaths every year? Is the funding by tobacco industry to political parties and parliamentarians stopping us and influencing our politicians to not take any action on this issue?

Understanding that India is one of the largest producers of tobacco with thousands of farmers associated with tobacco cultivation and that there are millions of tobacco addicts in India; we have to carefully design a long-term tobacco eradication action plan. Tobacco control is not working and will not work. Even if the presently planned tobacco control initiatives are a success still in this century over a billion people (Conservative estimate) will die because of tobacco. Are we just happy by reducing the death toll by a million or are we interested to prevent all of the billion deaths? The future will depend on the option you decide to choose.

In July this year, speaking at the World Conference on Tobacco, Dr. Amartya Sen, also emphasised that “It’s a silly idea to earn revenue out of tobacco sales.” Tobacco is not an economically productive crop if we view it with a holistic approach. Tobacco is a highly counter-productive crop for any nation’s growth. Our health minister, Dr. Ramadoss has also suggested replacing tobacco plantation with medicinal herbs on many occasions. There are possibilities but no one seems to be thinking or working to put them to practise.

One of the options for eliminating tobacco over the next 20 to 30 years is by taking complete control of the tobacco industry in public interest and then working on a 5-10% de-growth every year. This strategic plan needs careful planning supported by a proper legislation. If your government supports us, we are willing to spend time in-concert on this possibility and also share all the material and thoughts on possible strategies to prevent every single death caused due to tobacco.

We request you to kindly take action on this serious issue and help in developing a long term plan. Initiation is the only sure step to achieve any success in eradicating tobacco. It may take long, but then, it will happen if we plan for it.

The nation looks upon you for this initiative.

Thanking you,
Yours cordially

Hemant Goswami
Chairperson, Burning Brain Society
 

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