BACKGROUND AND IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES: India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare aims for a comprehensive amendment to the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) 2003. However, the amendment Bill is complex and has multiple elements, which tie up to MPOWER; political sensitivities are currently strong in India; it entails a long timeline from passage to implementation; and requires national and sub-national level intervention. Vital Strategies and partners are actively supporting MOHFW in strengthening this policy change.
INTERVENTION OR RESPONSE: Complementing partner advocacy, Vital Strategies initiated an integrated communication campaign unified on digital media called 'India vs Tobacco', which ran through a series of phased tactics, each focussed on specific MPOWER policies, together making a public health case for the bill and building public support for its passage. The youth-centric campaign was executed on three-pronged strategy – mobilizing actors; changing public opinion through mass media, social media and community engagement; and getting attention to the issues through earned/news media.
RESULTS AND IMPACT: Over a duration of 18 months, the campaign reached approximately 97 million people online; mobilized 2000+ youth, engaged 64 unique influencers and key opinion leaders; collaborated with 7 government, quasi-government and medical organizations; and generated 579 news stories reaching approximately 564 million people. While the campaign is still on for the national level bill, there were some interim wins such as passage of the amendment at subnational level in Karnataka and Jharkhand, and central government issuing the guidelines on preventing of misleading advertisements and endorsements.
CONCLUSIONS: The campaign demonstrated the power of digital media, the importance of collaborations at multiple levels and with organisations beyond health, and how strategic influencer marketing and youth mobilization can amplify campaign messages and drive effective engagement. Using the right communication platforms along with targeted and tailored messaging helps is key to drive public engagement for policy promotion.