To

Shri Rajesh Bhushan,
Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,
Government of India,
Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi-110011.

We applaud the Indian Government’s leadership in bringing out evidence based tobacco control measures in the form of a notification (GSR 400 E) that mandates disclaimers, health spots and health messages to be displayed and played on all online curated content that portrays tobacco products uploaded on Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms.

Given that tobacco kills more than 13.5 lakh Indians every year and nearly a 3rd of the adult population and 8.5% of the youth using tobacco, we are proud of the decision taken by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India in the interest of public health and protecting the citizens, especially minors and youth, from getting exposed to tobacco advertising and promotion through online streaming platforms.

We truly believe that the regulations will go a long way towards protecting millions of youth from tobacco consumption and support us in our fight to prevent the use of tobacco.

We welcome and appreciate this move by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India and extend our committed support in effectively monitoring and implementing the provisions to protect the future generation from the online exposure to advertising and promotion of tobacco products.

With best regards,