Cigarette packets to devote 85 percent space to warnings

New Delhi: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan Wednesday announced that tobacco companies will have to devote 85 percent space on cigarette packets to warnings against the effects of tobacco.

"We have issued a notification to ensure that in the next few months cigarette manufacturers have 85 percent space on packets covered with either pictorial warnings or messages warning against the perils of tobacco," the minister said.

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He made the announcement at an event celebrating Global Handwashing Day here.