[Intl-tobacco] Turkey: Philip Morris's "youth programme" gets adult response (fwd)

[Robert Weissman]

Turkey: Philip Morris's "youth programme" gets adult response
Tob Control 2001;10:6 ( Spring )
Source: Tobacco Control, Wednesday, 2/28/01

More good news from Turkey, just a few months after health advocates saw
off, at least for the time being, the latest round in a covert attempt by
the tobacco industry to establish Formula One motor sport in the soccer
dominated country for the purposes of future cigarette promotion (see
Tobacco Control 2000;9:268-9). Once again it features Philip Morris, whose
initial success at collaboration with a prestigious university in Istanbul
was one of the nastiest surprises of last year. Philip Morris approached
Bosphorus University last September, with a project called "Power is
Yours" targeting sixth and seventh grade (approximately 12 and 13 years
old) students in Istanbul schools.

When the university asked--and received--permission from the Ministry of
Education to implement the scheme, it somehow forgot to mention the name
of the sponsor. However, when the generous backer's name came to light
later, journalists and international health advocates began to contact the
dean of the university, urging him to abandon the scheme. National
publicity was generated, bringing the matter to the attention of no less a
public health guardian than the father of Turkey's tobacco control
legislation, the country's president (see Tobacco Control 1997;6:10-11).
He asked the Ministry of Education to explain how the project had been
permitted, and the next thing we know, hey presto, the Ministry of
Education stopped it as dead in its tracks as a Marlboro smoker falling
down with a heart attack.

So far as we know, this is the first time that one of the industry's
wretched "youth education" programmes has been stopped after getting
underway, and the reassuring lesson is that it is never too late to
protest. And encouragingly, Turkish colleagues report that every new trick
that tobacco companies try to promote their business actually results in
increased public awareness about the industry's tactics. Let's hope they
don't give up trying.