[Intl-tobacco] WHO warns Asia 25% of youth will die from smoking without curbed advertising

[Robert Weissman]

WHO warns Asia 25% of youth will die from smoking without curbed
advertising

by OLIVER TEVES, Canadian Press
Source: AP, 2002-05-28, via tobacco.org
http://www.canada.com/newglasgow/story.asp?id=%7BF4783754-9730-4319-A354-E42891589E65%7D

May 28, 2002

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - The World Health Organization on Tuesday
called for tougher anti-smoking regulations across Asia, where as
many as 50,000 teenagers start smoking daily. The WHO warned that
if that rate continued, the habit might eventually kill a quarter
of Asia's current youth.

"The industry is seeking a new generation of young smokers, to
replace the millions who die from tobacco," Shigeru Omi, director
for the WHO's Western Pacific Region, said in a statement.

The WHO has won support from the International Olympic Committee
and the world soccer body, FIFA, for its campaign to make sports
free of tobacco advertising, sponsorship, consumption and sales.
The 2002 FIFA World Cup, which kicks off Friday in Japan and South
Korea, will be tobacco-free.

"Children deserve to grow up in environment free from such
marketing," said Harley Stanton of the WHO's regional Tobacco Free
Initiative.

Multinational tobacco companies are among the top 10 advertisers in
several Asian countries. They spend billions of dollars yearly to
promote cigarettes and sponsor sports events and pop concerts.

The WHO said smoking is the single biggest killer globally,
accounting for one in three middle-age male deaths.

It said smoking will kill a third of all young men in China, and
one million people who are now children in Cambodia, where tobacco
advertising is widespread.

The WHO cited studies indicating that two-thirds of people under 25
will take up smoking in China. In the Philippines, more than half
of children ages seven to 17 smoke. Worldwide, about one in five
youths ages 13 to 15 smoke, the WHO said.

Except for Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand, Asian countries have
some of the world's weakest tobacco control laws. They also levy
low cigarette taxes, have poor regulations on advertising and
almost no control on sponsorship, the WHO said.

The region has some of the highest smoking rates in the world. At
least two-thirds of men smoke in Cambodia, China, Indonesia,
Myanmar, Philippines, South Korea and Vietnam. In Japan, Laos,
Malaysia and Mongolia, roughly half of the men smoke, according to
studies.

Tobacco companies also target Asian women, who account for less
than five per cent of smokers in most Asian countries. The WHO
noted that after American tobacco firms entered Japan in the late
1980s, the number of Japanese women who smoked doubled in a few
years.

The WHO recommended raising cigarette taxes and banning advertising
and sponsorships. It also urged governments to mount anti-smoking
education campaigns and to devise smoke-free environment policies.