[Intl-tobacco] African states call for ban on tobacco advertising (fwd)

[Robert Weissman]

African states call for ban on tobacco advertising
BMJ 2001;322:1144 ( 12 May )
by Phyllida Brown Exeter
Source: British Medical Journal, Friday, 5/11/01

African and Asian states have attacked the current draft of the
international tobacco treaty for being too weak and last week tabled new
tougher proposals for the next round of negotiations in November. The
strength of the developing countries=92 positions=97which contrasted sharpl=
y
with those of the industrialised countries=97surprised some anti-tobacco
campaigners.

Even Zimbabwe and Malawi, which rank sixth and eighth biggest producers of
tobacco and rely more heavily on it for export earnings than other
producers, now support strong anti-tobacco controls. "Up to now they have
been quite negative, but they have now agreed a common position with other
African countries," said Clive Bates of Action on Smoking and Health, who
attended the negotiations in Geneva last week.

The treaty, formally called the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control,
is sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO). It is aimed at
curbing the use of tobacco worldwide. Four million people die of tobacco
related disease each year, and this figure is expected to reach 10 million
by 2030.

The existing text for the treaty, drafted by Celso Amorin, a Brazilian
diplomat, chairman of the negotiating body, makes no mention of a total
advertising ban. Instead it calls for a ban on advertising to young people
aged under 18, a proposal that critics say is unworkable. Research has
shown that partial bans on tobacco advertising are ineffective, whereas
total bans can help to reduce demand. The African and Asian nations
insisted that a total ban be proposed for discussion at the next round.

The United States drew widespread criticism for refusing to accept
controls. At the end of the week Action on Smoking and Health called for
the United States to pull out of the negotiations as it was unlikely to
sign anything anyway. The European Union, although less aggressively
against control measures than the United States, has taken a weak stance.
Individual member states such as Britain and France favour relatively
strong curbs on tobacco, but Germany has resisted them, and the European
Union wants to maintain a unified position.

However, the developing countries=92 campaigning may have "pressured" the
European Union "to move off its very limited mandate," said Mr Bates. "A
total ban will have to be back on the table, and in November there will be
negotiations over this option."

The WHO also came under fire last week for wanting a treaty at any price,
even if that meant selling out. Critics said that the UN agency was merely
facilitating the negotiations and questioned whether it had given clear
evidence to the treaty=92s drafting teams on the health effects of differen=
t
tobacco policies. For example, the draft text calls for cigarette packs to
carry labelling on tar yields.

Although the text also says that this information should not convey the
impression that "low yield" brands are safer than high yield brands, such
labelling will still be misleading, said the critics. Smokers normally
compensate by dragging harder on a low yield cigarette, and machine
readings of yields are meaningless. The WHO is aware of this and should
have given better scientific advice, said Mr Bates.

Dr Derek Yach at the WHO rejected this criticism. "We have put all the
evidence on the table, and it is now up to the will of the member states,"
he said. He insisted that the negotiations marked progress towards a
strong international set of controls on tobacco. "The course of the
movement [toward controls] is obvious. It is simply a question of time,"
he said.

Details of the WHO Tobacco Free Initiative are available at:
http://tobacco.who.int