smoking and preventable death in E.Europe

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

PRESS RELEASE

FOR RELEASE						
15:00 Wednesday, 12 May 1998	
CONTACT:  
Witold Zatonski, M.D.
(48)-(22)-643-92-34


Scientific Conference Sounds Alarm About
Man-Made Diseases in Central and Eastern Europe

	WARSAW – Unless governments in Central and Eastern Europe take
swift and decisive action to reduce man-made disease, half a million more
citizens age 20 to 60 will continue to die each year than in the years
before transition, warned an international group of 150 health experts
concluding an historic 3-day meeting today at the Maria Skodowska-Curie
Cancer Center and Institute of Oncology. 

	"The diseases that are ravaging our nations today are largely the
result of unhealthy behaviors established two to three decades ago," said
Prof. Witold Zatonski, head of the Institute’s Department of Epidemiology
and Cancer Prevention.  "At the same time, multinational tobacco companies
have taken advantage of our recent democracy and launched aggressive
marketing campaigns that have made their cigarettes highly appealing to
our people, especially our children and teenagers." 

	Scientists estimate that each day, 10,000 young people in the CEE
become regular smokers.  Half of them eventually will die from their
smoking. 

	Prof. Zatonski noted that in some CEE countries such as Hungary,
more than half of men will die before age 70 from man-made diseases
including cancer, heart disease, and liver cirrhosis.  "We must recognize
that there can be no real economic prosperity without improved health," he
said. 

	Poland, the Czech Republic, and the Slovak Republic provide an
example of progress that can be made when health risks are confronted and
reduced.  Declines in adult cigarette smoking and substitution of
vegetable for animal fats in the diet helped produce a 30-percent drop in
cardiovascular disease between 1991 and 1996 among young men in these
countries. 
 
The single biggest threat to the future health of the CEE is the soaring
rate of lung cancer in women, caused by the rapid increase in cigarette
smoking among women over the past 10 to 20 years.  Experts predict that
female lung cancer deaths in the region will more than double over the
next 15 years.  Eastern Europe already is experiencing lung cancer death
rates never reached in western Europe, especially among young and
middle-aged adults.  -- more --
 
Scientific Conference Sounds Alarm – page 2

The health experts also concluded that heavy alcohol use is probably the
main cause of the dramatic upturn in mortality recently observed in the
former Soviet Union and is a major contributor to the high mortality rates
in Hungary.  In that country, fully one-fifth of deaths among young men is
due to liver cirrhosis, a disease strongly linked to alcohol abuse. 

	The experts identified poor dietary habits as another important
risk for disease in the CEE, including high fat and calorie intake
compared to low physical activity levels, and low consumption of fruits
and vegetables. 

	Scientists at the Warsaw conference, representing 23 countries
throughout the CEE and other parts of the world, released a five-point
plan to reduce the "astonishing" burden of avoidable deaths in the region: 

1.  Increase taxes on tobacco products, earmarking a portion of the
revenues for health promotion programs, and ban tobacco advertising and
promotion. 

2.  Prevent excess alcohol consumption through tax increases, other
legislation, and education. 

3.  Ensure year-round availability of fruits and vegetables, replace
animal and partially hydrogenated fat with vegetable fat in food products,
where possible, require adequate food labeling, and require cost-effective
food supplementation such as folate in flour. 

4.  Expand construction and availability of facilities such as bicycle
paths to encourage increased physical activity. 

5.  Conduct intensive public education campaigns on the health risks of
tobacco use, heavy alcohol use, and improper diet and on steps to reduce
risks, including individual behaviors and public policies. 

	The scientific conference was organized by the Polish Ministry of
Health and Social Welfare, the Curie Cancer Center, the World Bank, the
World Health Organization, and the Health Promotion Foundation. 
Organizers plan to publish complete proceedings of the conference and
distribute them worldwide to call attention to the public health situation
in the CEE. 


-- end --