chandigarh, 04.07.26-The Scientific Support Group at PGIMER Chandigarh is playing pioneering role in advancing India’s efforts to regulate the contents, emissions, and disclosures of tobacco and nicotine products, said Dr. L. Swasticharan, Deputy Director General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India, while addressing the National Workshop on “From Workflow to Protocol: Developing Efficient, Action-Oriented SOPsfor National Tobacco Testing Laboratories”. The landmark event was jointly organisedvirtually on 2nd July, 2026,by the Scientific Support Group (SSG) and the WHO Collaborative Centre for Research and Training in Tobacco Control at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, under the aegis of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India. He commended PGIMER’s leadership in guiding the country’s National Tobacco Testing Laboratories (NTTLs) located at NICPR Noida, CDTL Mumbai, RDTL Guwahati, and NIMHANS Bengaluru and emphasised the importance of building a robust Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for testing harmful constituents, and aligning India’s regulatory framework with global best practices adapted to national needs.
Speaking at the workshop, Dr Sonu Goel, Convenor of SSG and Professor at PGIMER, remarked:"Laboratory data cannot exist in an academic vacuum; uniform, action-oriented SOPs are the critical bridge that translates chemical testing into enforceable national regulations capable of countering aggressive tobacco industry interference and legal challenges."
Additionally, Dr Nuan Ping Cheah, Chair, WHO TobLabNet and Co-Director of the WHO FCTC Knowledge hub for Article 5.3, Thammasat University, Thailand, an international expert, emphasised that“Testing is in fact not a luxury, it is a necessity for public health”.
The workshop brought together senior policymakers, global experts, regulators, scientists, WHO representatives, and leading institutions, includingMOHFW, ICMR, GOI, IIT, WHO, Vital Strategies, NIMHANS, AIIMS, andJIPMER.Deliberations culminated in a consensus that there is an urgent need to develop an action-oriented, standardised Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to track harmful constituents in tobacco and nicotine products, turning the mandate of WHO-FCTC Articles 9 and 10 into operational reality,making India a global leader in the rigorous regulation of diverse tobacco and nicotine products, paving the way toward a healthier, tobacco-free future.