Explore Business Standard
France has struggled to kick its smoking habit. A new public health decree published Saturday aims to change that. In the coming days, smoking will be banned in all French parks and sports venues, at beaches and bus stops, in a perimeter around all schools, and anywhere children could gather in public. In a country where smoking has for generations been glamorised in cinema and intertwined with the national image, government crackdowns on tobacco use have met resistance. "In France, we still have this mindset of saying, this is a law that restricts freedom," Philippe Bergerot, president of the French League Against Cancer, told the Associated Press. The ban aims "to promote what we call denormalisation. In people's minds, smoking is normal," he said. "We aren't banning smoking; we are banning smoking in certain places where it could potentially affect people's health and ... young people." It's been illegal to smoke in restaurants, bars and public buildings since a series of bans
Drug firm Lupin on Wednesday said it has launched a product, used as an aid to smoking cessation treatment, in the US market. The company has launched Varenicline tablets in strengths of 0.5 mg and 1 mg, after having received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), the Mumbai-based drug maker said in a regulatory filing. The company's product is the generic equivalent of PF Prism CV's Chantix tablets, it added. It is indicated for use as an aid to smoking cessation treatment. As per the IQVIA data, Varenicline tablets had estimated annual sales of USD 412 million in the US. Shares of the company were trading 0.75 per cent up at Rs 1,406.50 apiece on the BSE.
India ranks second in the number of smokers aged between 16 and 64 years and is among the nations with one of the lowest quit rates for smoking, according to a new report. The report prepared by 'The International Commission to Reignite the Fight Against Smoking' using secondary data from sources like the World Bank, said that China and India are home to more than 500 million tobacco users between the ages 16 and 64 years. "India ranks second with 250,002,133 smokers between 16 and 64 years of age. Tobacco prevalence in India is three times higher among men than women. India also accounts for some of the highest rates of smokeless tobacco use and oral cancer in the world," it said. According to the report, 37 per cent of Indian respondents showed a desire to change behaviour with a plan to quit smoking. However, India is among countries with the lowest quit rates for smoking. The quit rates for men are less than 20 per cent, it noted. The report said an estimated 1.14 billion peopl