Smoking Is Big Killer in Americas (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

Smoking Is Big Killer in Americas
by Michelle Faul/Associated Press Writer
Source: AP, Tuesday, 9/28/99
Tuesday, Sept. 28, 1999; 11:12 p.m. EDT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico –– Smoking has emerged as the leading preventable
cause of death in the Americas, but some tobacco-growing nations and
companies are preventing an aggressive response, according to a report
presented to the hemisphere's top health officials Tuesday.

Smoking-related diseases claim more than 600,000 lives a year in the
Americas, surpassing AIDS, accidents and suicide, said Dr. George A.O.
Alleyne, director-general of the Pan American Health Organization.

One in three people over 15 smokes in the region, Alleyne said.

He spoke at the start of a five-day conference in San Juan, where some 30
health ministers from the Americas considered proposals on fighting
tobacco consumption.

While avoiding politically delicate specifics, Alleyne said "economic
interests" in some member states "are among the principal factors that
hinder the task" of fighting smoking.

His report notes that smoking is encouraged by the low cost of cigarettes
– from 50 cents to $1.30 a packet in Latin America – and by a dearth of
readily available information about the damage it causes.

Multinational tobacco firms and national tobacco companies in countries
such as Brazil allegedly have targeted youth to boost sales, said Enrique
Madrigal, a Pan American Health Organization adviser for tobacco control.
The organization estimates that the proportion of smokers in the
population doubles between the ages of 11 and 15.

"There is a serious threat that the tobacco industries are focusing
directly upon the developing countries with all their guns," Madrigal
said.

The only way to curb a global epidemic of smoking-related diseases is an
international treaty to control tobacco, Gro Harlem Brundtland,
director-general of the World Health Organization, said in an interview at
the conference.

The 30 health ministers and other senior health officials from every
country in the Western Hemisphere agreed to back the proposed Convention
on Tobacco Control. The convention, already attacked by tobacco companies,
would make it difficult for cigarette makers to do business around the
world by imposing taxes on cigarettes worldwide and introducing
international standards to restrict advertising of tobacco products,
including on satellite television and the Internet. A draft is expected by
the year 2003.

Tobacco companies, Brundtland said, were trying "to build up the market in
the young groups in order to get as many as possible addicted before they
are even grown-ups," she said. "They have been doing it deliberately."

Health costs associated with smoking more than offset the economic
benefits of tobacco cultivation and ultimately have "a negative bearing on
the economy of the region," the organization's report said. It urged
member governments to educate people about smoking's risks and promote
action through workshops, conferences, seminars and the Internet.

Tobacco cultivation averages 25,000 acres in Peru, Colombia, Chile and
Guatemala, more than 50,000 acres in Argentina and Cuba, and more than
700,000 acres in Brazil.

Brazil is the world's third-largest tobacco producer and exports almost $1
billion worth a year. The United States is the world leader and exports
five times more, the organization said.

The Pan American Health Organization reported some gains in Brazil, Chile
and Costa Rica, which have passed laws and decrees creating smoke-free
environments, compulsory warning labels on cigarette packs and controls on
advertising targeting children.

"While these gains seem modest, the current trend seems to motivate other
countries to follow suit," the organization said.