Chandigarh: The Scientific Support Group (SSG) at PGIMER is playing a pioneering role in strengthening India’s efforts to regulate the contents, emissions and disclosures of tobacco and nicotine products, Dr L Swasticharan, deputy director general of health services, ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW), said Thursday.He was addressing a national workshop on “From Workflow to Protocol: Developing Efficient, Action-Oriented SOPs for National Tobacco Testing Laboratories”, jointly organised virtually by the SSG and the WHO Collaborative Centre for Research and Training in Tobacco Control at PGIMER under the aegis of the MoHFW.Dr Swasticharan lauded PGIMER’s leadership in guiding the country’s National Tobacco Testing Laboratories (NTTLs) at NICPR Noida, CDTL Mumbai, RDTL Guwahati and NIMHANS Bengaluru. He stressed the need for robust standard operating procedures (SOPs) for testing harmful constituents in tobacco products and aligning India’s regulatory framework with global best practices suited to national requirements.Dr Sonu Goel, convener of the SSG and professor at PGIMER, said uniform and action-oriented SOPs were essential to translate laboratory findings into enforceable regulations capable of withstanding industry interference and legal challenges.International expert Dr Nuan Ping Cheah, Chair of WHO TobLabNet and co-Director of the WHO FCTC Knowledge Hub for Article 5.3 at Thammasat University, Thailand, underscored the importance of testing, calling it a public health necessity rather than a luxury.The workshop brought together policymakers, regulators, scientists, WHO representatives and experts from institutions including MoHFW, ICMR, IITs, NIMHANS, AIIMS, JIPMER and Vital Strategies.Participants agreed on the urgent need for standardised, action-oriented SOPs to monitor harmful constituents in tobacco and nicotine products and operationalise the mandates of WHO-FCTC Articles 9 and 10, with the aim of strengthening regulation and advancing tobacco control efforts in India.
