[Intl-tobacco] Lebanon Seeks to Stub Out Cigarette Ads (fwd)

[Robert Weissman]

Karam hopes to butt out smoking ads
by Alia Ibrahim / Daily Star staff
Source: (Beirut, Lebanon) Daily Star, Tuesday, 6/6/00

Stepping up Lebanon's campaign against smoking, Health Minister Karam
Karam announced on Monday that he wants to stop tobacco advertisements and
boost taxes on all forms of tobacco.

His ministry has made the hazards posed by smoking one of its most
important public campaigns this year by launching a nationwide
anti-smoking effort with the collaboration of the World Health
Organization.

As part of that campaign, Karam suggested that the government increase its
tobacco taxes and more effectively implement existing smoking laws such as
forbidding smoking in government offices.

"In Lebanon, we're in serious need of raising public awareness and of
guiding and warning people," he said during a press conference at the
ministry in Mathaf.

In following a Western platform adopted by countries like the United
States, Karam also suggested creating laws that would forbid all forms of
tobacco advertising.

He said that advertising was a major element contributing to the high rate
of smokers.

"It's because of publicity that young men think that they're more virile
and more attractive when they smoke, and the same applies for women," he
said.

Habib Latiri, the World Health Organization's representative in Lebanon,
said that research shows that a person's decision to smoke was influenced
by tobacco industry promotion and advertising featuring prominent sports
and entertainment figures. Such promotion aims to reinforce the industry's
image of tobacco as glamorous, fun, healthy and sophisticated.

"So what is it that the tobacco industry is trying to conceal? Latiri
asked. "In fact, they want to suppress the truth that documents their
manipulation of nicotine to levels that ensure that addiction occurs and
is sustained, among other truths," he argued.

He also said that the number of smokers worldwide was on the increase and
hence the effects of smoking-induced illnesses were rapidly mounting.

"The number of smokers today is in excess of 1.25 billion. That's more
than one-third of all people above the age of 15," he said.

Latiri said that if current trends continued, smoking rates would increase
until the number of people who die due to tobacco-induced illnesses in the
year 2020 would reach a staggering 10 million people.

Explaining why some people stick to the habit even though they may be
aware of its hazards, Latiri quoted WHO's regional director, Hussein
Jazaeiry, who said that there was a difference between people knowing the
threats of smoking and realizing just how dangerous it could be.

"Very few smokers realize that by the time I'm through reading this note,
smoking would have killed 60 people, and that by the end of the day, it
would have killed another 10,000 people worldwide," he said.

Latiri said that if smokers around the world decided to quit smoking,
cancer cases would be cut by one-third and a number of heart and
circulatory disorders, as well as other chronic diseases, would be
prevented.

"Smoking has had a worse effect on humanity than wars, disasters and
plagues," he said.

"Nicotine is the most active ingredient in tobacco: which is
physiologically and psychologically addictive, in a similar way to heroine
and cocaine. That means that tobacco companies are in the drug business,"
he said.

Latiri invited all concerned parties, including the tobacco industry, to
present their views during a two-day public hearing that the WHO is
holding in Geneva on Oct. 12-13.

Another disadvantage of smoking that was stressed at the press conference
was the economic cost.

According to Youssef Bassim, director of Lebanon's National Anti-Smoking
Campaign, an American study indicated that the cost to the government of
medical coverage for smoking related illnesses from every pack of
cigarettes was $2.40 =96 far less than what the Lebanese government receive=
s
in taxes from tobacco products, because a pack of cigarettes here costs
just LL2,000.

What putting out that cigarette means

The benefits of quitting smoking according to the National Anti-Smoking
Campaign:

-After 20 minutes:

Blood pressure, pulse rate and hand and feet temperatures return to
normal.

- After eight hours:

The rate of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood returns to normal.

- After 24 hours:

The threat of a heart attack begins to decrease.

- After 48 hours:

Smell and taste sensation begins to improve.

-After two weeks:

Circulation starts to improve, lung efficiency is enhanced by 30 percent
and walking becomes an easier task.

- After one to nine months:

Coughing is reduced, it is easier to breathe and lungs regain the ability
to clean themselves and reduce possible inflammation.

- After one year:

The probability of suffering a heart attack decreases by 50 percent.

-After 10 years:

Life expectancy becomes identical to that of a non-smoker. DS