[Intl-tobacco] Eva Kralikova Takes on Philip Morris/Altria

[Robert Weissman]

Statement of Dr. Eva Kralikova at the Philip Morris Shareholders
Meeting, 25
April 2002


My name is Eva Kralikova, and I am a doctor in the Faculty of Medicine at
Charles University in the Czech Republic.  I am here to ask Philip
Morris to
change more than your name.  I ask that you stop your harmful actions around
the world that result in more and more people becoming addicted to your
cigarettes and more and more people dying of diseases caused by smoking.

Today we have heard a lot about Philip Morris being a responsible company.
But a responsible company would not do what Philip Morris did in the Czech
Republic last year.

When our government tried to increase tobacco taxes, Philip Morris
commissioned a report to tell us that because of smoking, our country would
save almost 1,227 U.S. dollars in reduced benefits for the elderly.
Following this logic, the government should just kill all people on the day
of their retirement.

A responsible company would not make this kind of immoral argument.  Philip
Morris will tell us they apologized, but if they are sincere, why were they
planning similar reports in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia?

If Philip Morris was a responsible company, it would stop using the Marlboro
man to addict children around the world.  In my country, the Marlboro
man is
everywhere.  This advertising has been so effective that, in the Czech
Republic, the slang term for a cigarette is “amerika,” as in “give me an
amerika.”

So my question to Philip Morris is this: will you show that you are serious
about being a responsible company by eliminating the Marlboro Man from your
advertising around the world?  Will you stop using this icon that has
addicted so many children and resulted in so much death and disease around
the world?




Eva is in the United States on a 10 day, 8-city speaking tour with
Mary Assunta from Malaysia sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids
For more information on the tour, contact Ross Hammond, Tel.
1-415-452-9322, email: margross@igc.org