Womens' Groups Appeal for Action on Tobacco (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

News release and final list of signers to "Appeal for Action" on women,
girls and global tobacco epidemic follows.

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


Women's Organizations Issue Appeal for Action on Tobacco 
U.S. Newswire
16 Jul 14:50

 Leading Health, Women's, Girls' Organizations Issue Appeal for
Government Action on Global Tobacco Epidemic
 To: National Desk, Health Writer
 Contact: Stephanie Adrian of the Center for Communications, Health
          and the Environment, 202-965-5990, or
          Sabrina Williams of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids,
          202-296-5469

   WASHINGTON, July 16 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Leading U.S. and
international tobacco control experts and members of Congress active
in tobacco control issues released an urgent appeal to elected U.S.
officials at a news briefing on Capitol Hill today, calling on them
to help protect the world's women and girls from American tobacco
companies' aggressive international marketing tactics.
   "Without strong government and private sector intervention, the
number of women smokers will nearly triple from 187 million to more
than 530 million over the next generation -- 80 percent of whom will
live in the developing world," said Dr. Judith Mackay, senior advisor
to incoming World Health Organization Director-General Gro Harlem
Brundtland.
   "Women, Girls, and Tobacco: An Appeal for Global Action"
(following was released at the news briefing. It has been endorsed by
more than 30 women's, girls' and public health groups.  The appeal
calls on Congress to enact legislation that will:

   -- end U.S. government support for tobacco abroad;
   -- adequately fund global tobacco control efforts;
   -- establish a code of conduct for labeling and advertising
      overseas;
   -- curb international tobacco smuggling; and
   -- fund international tobacco control through a fee imposed
      on the tobacco industry.

   "Tobacco use is one of the greatest health threats facing women
and girls around the globe today," said Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas).
"As the world's leading exporter of tobacco products, the United
States has a moral responsibility to support programs and policies to
prevent an increase in smoking among women, especially in developing
countries."
   Members of Congress and tobacco control experts presenting at the
news briefing today included: Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas); Rep.
Frank Pallone (D-N.J.); Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.); Sen. Richard
Durbin (D-Ill.); Dr. Judith Mackay, senior advisor, World Health
Organization; Dr. Sharon Lenhart, president, American Medical Women's
Association; Cass Wheeler, CEO, American Heart Association; Linda
Ford, president, American Lung Association; Bill Novelli, president,
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids; Jeanette Noltenius, executive
director, Latino Council on Alcohol and Tobacco; George Dessart,
former chairman, American Cancer Society; and Dr. Jane Hull Harvey,
vice chair, Interreligious Coalition on Smoking or Health.
   "Developing countries often lack knowledge of tobacco's
devastating impact and have limited resources to counter the tobacco
industry's deceptive marketing tactics, in particular those aimed at
women and girls," said Mackay. "U.S. companies are aggressively
targeting women and girls worldwide with seductive advertising that
blatantly depicts images of independence, power and slimness."
   The appeal and the list of endorsing groups follow.
   ------
   WOMEN, GIRLS AND TOBACCO: AN APPEAL FOR GLOBAL ACTION

   America's women's and girls' organizations and our public health
community 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 percent of
men smoke compared to 12 percent 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. Some 80 percent of these women will
live in the developing world, and half of them 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 percent 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 deeply 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, the 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 one major 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 that 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.
   ------
   THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS HAVE ENDORSED
   "WOMEN, GIRLS AND TOBACCO: AN APPEAL FOR GLOBAL ACTION"

   American Cancer Society
   American Heart Association
   American Lung Association
   American Medical Women's Association
   American Psychological Association
   Americans for Nonsmokers Rights
   Association for Women in Science
   Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
   Center for Communications, Health and the Environment
   Center for Social Gerontology
   Council For Responsible Public Investment
   Essential Action
   General Board of Church and Society, United Methodist Church
   Girls Incorporated
   International Network of Women Against Tobacco
   Interreligious Coaltion on Smoking or Health
   Latino Council on Alcohol and Tobacco
   Mission Housing Development Corporations, Tobacco Free Militia
   National Association for Girls and Women in Sports
   National Association for Women and Education
   National Women's Health Network
   San Francisco African American Tobacco Free Project
   San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners, Environmental Justice
   Youth Leadership Program
   San Francisco Tobacco Free Coalition
   Smoke Free Maryland
   Smokefree Educational Services
   Smokefree Pennsylvania
   Thailand Health Promotion Institute
   Tobacco Control Resource Center
   Tobacco Free Las Cruces Coalition
   Tobacco OR Health Leadership and Policy, East Tennessee State
   University
   Transnational Resource and Action Center
   Vietnamese Community Health Promotion Project
   Wider Opportunities for Women
   Women's Action on Smoking, Japan
   Women's Environment and Development Organization
   YMCA

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 /U.S. Newswire  202-347-2770/