Thai Impotence Warning (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

 Impotence warning on cigarettes worries Thai women 
                                 05:25 a.m. Nov 05, 1998 Eastern 

                                 By Sutin Wannabovorn 

                                 BANGKOK, Nov 5 (Reuters) - A doctor
spearheading Thailand's anti-smoking
                                 drive said cigarette packs labelled
``smoking causes impotence'' that went on
                                 sale on Thursday had prompted a torrent of
queries, mostly from worried
                                 women married to smokers. 

                                 Dr Prakit Vateesatogkit, secretary of the
Action on Smoking and Health
                                 Foundation, said his office had been
inundated with calls from women seeking
                                 suggestions as to how they can get their
husbands to quit. 

                                 ``They want their husbands to stop
smoking,'' he said. ``If smoking affects their
                                 husband's sex life, then maybe they will
convince them to stop,'' he said. 

                                 Thailand added the warning to a list of
nine existing health warnings to be carried
                                 on cigarette packs. The warnings must cover
at least 30 per cent of the surface
                                 area of a pack. 

                                 Prakit, who has been campaigning against
smoking for the past decade, said
                                 Thailand was the first country in the world
to add such a warning to cigarette
                                 packs. 

                                 He said it already appeared to have had
more impact than earlier warnings like
                                 ``Smoking causes lung cancer,'' ``Smoking
endangers unborn babies,'' or
                                 ``Smoking makes you look older than your
years.'' 

                                 ``Maybe Thai males are more concerned about
impotence than lung cancer,'' he
                                 said. 

                                 An estimated 11.2 million of Thailand's 60
million population are smokers and
                                 Prakit said more than 80,000 Thais die each
year from lung cancer and
                                 smoking-related diseases. 

                                 A heavy smoker, Sombat Polyiem, 31, agreed
that the latest warning would be
                                 effective. 

                                 ``My wife has repeatedly urged me to stop
smoking since the news about the
                                 impotence warnings appeared in the papers
and on television,'' said Sombat, a
                                 motorcycle taxi driver. 

                                 ``I'm afraid of becoming impotent, but I
can't quit smoking, he said. ``So what I
                                 have done is to cut down from one pack to
eight or 10 cigarettes a day.'' 

                                 Prakit said the warning was backed by
research by the American Council on
                                 Science and Health. 

                                 A 1996 report by the council said there was
``considerable evidence that
                                 smoking decreases sperm production, deforms
sperm, changes sperm mobility
                                 and seriously reduces blood flow to the
penis, in some instances causing
                                 impotence.'' 

                                 ``If you are non-smoker you have X amount
of chance of becoming impotent,''
                                 said Prakit. ``If you smoke you double that
figure. 

                                 ``If you want to take the chance, it's up
to you, but as doctors, we have to tell
                                 you the facts,'' he said. 

                                 He said his foundation had achieved
moderate success in the past 10 years with
                                 the number of adults quitting on the rise. 

                                 However, he added: ``Every year we have
about 500,000 new smokers, while
                                 about 200,000 quit the habit. So we have to
work harder.'' 


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