sign-on request

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

Judith Mackay, one of the world's leading tobacco control advocates, will
be visiting Washington, DC in mid July to emphasize the importance of the
U.S. adopting international tobacco control policies. In conjunction with
her visit, the following sign-on statement, which is being circulated by
Essential Action and several other groups, will be released. Any groups --
not individuals (sorry) -- that would like to sign on to the statement
should send me a personal message. (Note that I will not be able to reply
to any questions or messages until July 7.)

Robert Weissman
Essential Information			|   Internet:	rob@essential.org




WOMEN, GIRLS AND TOBACCO:  AN APPEAL FOR GLOBAL ACTION


America’s women’s and girls’ organizations, our public health community and
Members of Congress hereby join in an urgent appeal to the United States
Congress to recognize America’s particular obligation to help protect the
world’s women and girls from their growing addiction to lethal tobacco.
Among the greatest health threats facing women around the globe today is
tobacco use, and American tobacco companies are aggressively marketing to
increase the number of women and girls who smoke, especially in developing
countries.  Worldwide, 47% of men smoke compared to 12% of women.  But the
low rates among women are changing fast.  Without strong government and
private sector intervention, smoking prevalence among women could triple
over the next generation, the number of women smokers rising from the
current 187 million to over 530 million – 80% of whom will live in the
developing world, and half of whom will die prematurely from tobacco related
causes.

The tobacco industry is aggressively targeting women and girls in developing
countries with seductive advertising that blatantly exploits ideas of
independence, power, emancipation, and slimness.  The industry claims that
cigarette advertising merely encourages brand switching.  But, the launching
of Virginia Slims in Hong Kong— at a time when less than 2% of Hong Kong
women under the age of 40 smoked—exemplifies industry attempts to create a
market.

The tobacco companies sponsor tours by female pop stars to developing
regions and produce yearly calendars in the Philippines – a strongly
religious country – featuring the Madonna amidst packets of cigarettes.  In
Taiwan, for the Lunar New Year, the industry recently produced the Yves St.
Laurent luxurious gift pack containing two cartons of cigarettes plus some
crystal, and the Virginia Slim Lights gift packs with stylish lighters for
female smokers.  Fashion conscious Indian girls and women – traditionally
nonsmokers – are special targets of such marketing.

In the developing markets in Eastern Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa
and Latin America, direct and indirect advertising is widespread.  Tobacco
sponsorship of sports, prominent ads for bistros, boutiques, travel
companies and TV films, all bearing industry logos, are commonplace.

Several comprehensive studies show that tobacco advertising revenue
discourages the media from reporting the risks of smoking.  This is of
special concern in developing countries, where awareness of the hazards of
smoking is low, sometimes nonexistent.  Governments, the public health
community, and women in developing countries lack the financial resources
and the experience in dealing with the tactics of the U.S. tobacco industry.
There is often little known about and less emphasis on the special risks of
tobacco faced by women.  Tobacco control programs in many countries are
absent or inadequate, and those that exist are often directed to men.
Woman-specific campaigns are rare and principally concentrate on the effects
of a woman’s smoking on a fetus or child.  Few programs have encouraged
women to quit smoking for their own sake.

The political influence of American and local tobacco companies against
tobacco control and education is even greater in these emerging countries
than in the United States.



 Recommendations For U.S. Government Action

As the world’s leading exporter of tobacco products, the United States has a
moral responsibility as well as a special opportunity to reduce the global
burden of premature disease and death worldwide by supporting programs and
policies that prevent a rise in smoking among women and girls, especially in
developing countries.

The United States consistently has provided leadership and funding to
address the world’s most pressing public health needs, including HIV/AIDS,
hunger, maternal and child health, and immunization.  In contrast, United
States Government actually has promoted smoking overseas for decades.

United States companies spend billions of dollars on aggressive tobacco
marketing campaigns overseas that directly link smoking with American
values, freedom, and liberation.  In many markets, American companies reach
youthful audiences through television and radio advertising, free samples,
and other methods that are illegal in the United States. Through exports and
overseas operations, United States tobacco companies sell more cigarettes
overseas than they do in the United States.

Smoking in films made in the United States is pervasive and is perhaps the
largest single cause of increased smoking among women and girls around the
world.  According to one study, more than half of the top-grossing United
States films released between 1991 and 1996 exhibited smoking.  In these
films, 80 percent of the male lead characters and 27 percent of the female
characters smoked.  The motion picture industry is painting a distorted
picture that smoking is a truly American activity.

Fortunately, as Carol Bellamy, the Executive Director of UNICEF has stated,
"There is no cause of premature death more preventable than the use of
tobacco.  That is why UNICEF condemns the calculated shift of the tobacco
market from its shrinking consumer base in the industrialized countries to
the vast, predominantly young populations of the developing world."  The
Executive Director said "the tobacco industry’s actions are a prescription
for a global health catastrophe, especially for children and women, who are
the prime targets for tobacco advertising and promotion."

Another outstanding woman leader has spoken out.  The World Health
Organization’s Director-General-Elect and former Prime Minister of Norway,
Gro Harlem Brundtland, saying that "children are the most vulnerable" to
tobacco, has called on the World Health Assembly to launch a new global
strategy and to halt what she called "the relentless increase in global
tobacco consumption."

In light of the role American tobacco companies have played in spreading
tobacco use globally and the large financial benefits they and we continue
to enjoy from tobacco exports – tens of millions of ordinary Americans own
U.S. tobacco company stock through their pensions, mutual funds and
directly – it is appropriate that Americans act.  We call upon the Congress
of the United States to enact legislation which will:

· End U.S. Government Support for Tobacco Abroad.  The United States should
actively seek to halt the global transfer of the problem to developing
countries and prevent the imminent epidemic of tobacco deaths, by refraining
from attempts to weaken any foreign tobacco regulation unless the regulation
discriminates against U.S. products in an arbitrary and unjustifiable manner
and is not a reasonable means of protecting public health.

· Adequately Fund Global Tobacco Control Efforts.  The American Center on
Global Health and Tobacco (ACT), a private, nonprofit organization, should
be established to assist public health organizations in other countries
through public education programs, technical assistance to health
professionals, mass media campaigns, grants and other general assistance.
Significant funding should be provided for ACT as well as for global tobacco
control efforts by U.S. federal agencies and multilateral organizations such
as WHO, UNICEF and the World Bank.

· Establish a Code of Conduct for Labeling and Advertising Overseas.  U.S.
tobacco companies should be required to print health warning labels on
tobacco products sold overseas that are as stringent as those required in
the United States.  U.S. tobacco companies should also be prohibited from
selling, advertising or marketing tobacco products to children in other
countries, with the same standards applied to their overseas conduct as at
home.

· Stop International Tobacco Smuggling.  The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms, which currently regulates alcohol smuggling, should be given
authority to deter tobacco smuggling through, among other things, a system
of export permits and increased record keeping.

· Fund International Tobacco Control Through a Tobacco Control Fee.  Every
U.S. tobacco company should pay a fee for cigarettes it sells overseas.  The
funds thus raised should be used for tobacco control efforts by governmental
and non-governmental entities.

The U.S. Congress should also support the development, adoption, and
implementation of the International Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
through all available resources.


The next century will bring the full burden of the tobacco epidemic to young
girls and women in Asia, Africa, Latin America and other developing regions.
As women’s disposable income increases and cigarettes become even more
affordable, the tobacco companies will strengthen their grip on the most
vulnerable populations – young girls and women who look to the West for the
latest in lifestyle.  We must ensure continuing congressional leadership and
action on tobacco control, or else we risk leaving the rest of the world as
orphans, for settlements in the states will not address our international
obligations.  American leadership and support are urgently needed to launch
a global effort and win the war against tobacco.






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