title: Point-of-Sale Tobacco Advertising Remains Prominent in Mumbai, India.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In India, a 2003 law ("COPTA") banned tobacco advertising with the exception of "point of sale" and "on-pack" advertising. Given substantial evidence regarding the impact of point of sale advertising (PoS), we analyzed the prevalence of encountering such advertising in Mumbai, India.
  
  
  METHODS
  A survey was conducted of 199 current and recent former tobacco users recruited at the Tata Memorial Hospital (Mumbai). Enrollees were queried regarding their exposure to tobacco advertising in the last 30 days through multiple media sources. Descriptive epidemiologic techniques were used to characterize the data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 95% of participants were men and 5% were women (mean age=49 years). All were current tobacco users or quit using all forms of tobacco in the last 60 days. Participants' responses revealed that PoS tobacco advertising had been encountered in the last 30 days for cigarettes (61%), bidis (54%), and smokeless tobacco (59%). Other forms of tobacco advertising were virtually non-existent.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PoS tobacco advertising remains prominent and highly visible to consumers in Mumbai, India, indicating corporate exploitation of a loophole in the COPTA legislation. Given the observed compliance with the currently imposed bans, revisions of COPTA to include all forms of tobacco promotion and advertising would be impactful.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA.
authors.forename: Samir S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Khariwala
authors.affiliation: Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Apurva
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Garg
authors.affiliation: Division of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA.
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Stepanov
authors.affiliation: Healis-Sekhsaria Institute for Public Health, Navi Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Prakash C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, USA.
authors.forename: Jasjit S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Ahluwalia
authors.affiliation: Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer, Navi Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Vikram
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gota
authors.affiliation: Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Pankaj
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chaturvedi
keywords: India; advertising and promotion; global health; tobacco industry