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India has begun printing pictorial health warnings on cigarette and other tobacco products, including photos of diseased lungs and gums, as part of efforts to cut smoking, officials said Monday.
Under the measures, pictures of scorpions (a symbol of danger), diseased lungs, decayed gums and skeletons will have to be displayed by manufacturers on packets of cigarettes, bidis and chewing tobacco.
"We hope the gory pictures on the packaging might deter people from consuming tobacco," Sutapa Biswas, executive director of the Cancer Foundation of India, told the reporters.
Smoking and chewing tobacco kill a million people every year, according to the Cancer Foundation of India.
Under the new rules, the pictures should cover at least 40 percent of a pack's main display area. Countries including Brazil, Canada, Singapore and Thailand have already been plastering picture warnings on cigarette packs.
In October 2008, India banned smoking in public places and the sale of tobacco products near educational institutes and hospitals -- but the regulations are blatantly flouted in many places.
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(Agencies)
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印度官方于本周一称，为减少吸烟人数，印度今后将在香烟和其它烟制品外包装上印制健康警示图标，包括被侵蚀的肺和牙龈的图片。
该措施规定，生产商必须在香烟、雪茄以及嚼烟的外包装上印制蝎子（危险的象征）、患病的肺、被腐蚀的牙龈和骷髅的图片。
印度癌症基金会的常务董事苏塔帕•比斯瓦在接受记者采访时说：“我们希望香烟包装上的这些令人厌恶的图片可以使人远离香烟。”
根据印度癌症基金会的统计，每年有100万人死于吸烟和嚼烟引发的疾病。
新规则规定，警示图片应至少占据外包装主要部位40%的面积。巴西、加拿大、新加坡、泰国等国家已经开始在香烟包装上印制警示图片。
印度于去年10月开始在公共场所禁烟，并禁止在教育机构和医院附近销售香烟，但在很多场所，人们公然无视该规定。
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（英语点津 实习生许雅宁编辑）
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