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According a study published in the Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention, around 75% cigarettes are sold as single sticks in India although it is not in the interest of public health. The value is 30% of more than $5 billion Indian market. This described as win-win game of tobacco industry by the experts.

Ravinder Kumar study co-investigator told IANS that, "Under the tobacco control legislation in India, each tobacco product has to bear a specified pictorial health warning. But the single cigarette sales defy the overall purpose.”

The World Health Organization's tuberculosis program consultant Kumar said, "The single cigarette sale is a win-win game for the tobacco industry, but not in the interest of public health.”

Study on single cigarette

The study reveals that the sale of single cigarettes is a factor for initiation, experimentation and persistence of the use of tobacco. "Based on the data collected from 10 jurisdictions, we estimate that nearly 75 per cent (59-87 per cent) of all cigarettes are sold as single sticks,” study reveals.

Under the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, study was conducted across 10 cities Agartala, Goa, Delhi, Jorhat, Jaipur, Indore, Baroda, Shimla, Patna and Chennai.

It recommends that the Indian government eliminate kiddy packs and ban the single cigarette sales

-Sumana