Pictorial warnings on cigarette packs continue to sully India’s anti-tobacco efforts on the global arena. The third edition of the Cigarette Package Health Warnings: International Status Report has indicted India for its indequate efforts in putting effective pictoral warning on cigarette packs. The report, released recently at the conference of parties to WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in Seoul, has ranked India at 123rd position among 198 countries. The lowest rank is 134. Earlier this year, the Union Health Ministry ended up red-faced for using an image that had an uncanny resemblance to English footballer John Terry as part of the pictoral warning. Then it walked into a copyright tangle with the Thai government while on search for a replacement. The report places Australia on the top of the list. In Oz, about 82.5 per cent of the display area on cigarette packs (both front and back sides) have warnings. The country has also opted for plain packaging of tobacco products. Sri Lanka stands at a close second with about 80 per cent of the display area having pictorial warnings. Though India had ratified FCTC in 2004, it is yet to follow the condition that warnings, the pictorial ones, should cover at least 50 per cent or more of the principal display area and shall be no less than 30 per cent. According to the report, 47 countries have pictorial warnings that cover at least 50 per cent of the display area on cigarette packs. Apparently, the anti-tobacco wing in the Health Ministry is facing resistance from the tobacco companies that have cited legal provisions to support their demand to continue with the Terry image for a while more. “India was at forefront of demanding effective and visible picture-based health warnings on tobacco packs at the negotiations of FCTC in 2003. It is regretful that it occupies the 123rd position,” said Bhavna Mukhopadhyay, Executive Director, Voluntary Health Association of India, an NGO working on tobacco control in India. According to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) India Report 2009-10, among the 34.6 per cent current adult (15 plus age group) tobacco users, 25.9 per cent use smokeless form of tobacco (206 million users). Out of this, 30.7 per cent are rural and 15 per cent are urban users. Among the 20.3 percent of female tobacco users, 18.4 per cent use smokeless forms of tobacco. According to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) 2006 Report, 14.1 percent of children in the age group of 13-15 years currently use tobacco products. Among the total use, 4.2 percent currently smoke cigarettes and 11.9 percent use tobacco products other than cigarettes.