[Intl-tobacco] Canada: Imperial says anti-tobacco money is wasted

[Robert Weissman]

Anti-smoking funds wasted: tobacco firm - Ottawa Citizen
 Imperial questions whether $480M program produces 'sound policies'

 Mark Kennedy
 The Ottawa Citizen


 Monday, May 12, 2003

 Canada's largest tobacco company is questioning whether the millions of
dollars allocated by the federal government to
 anti-smoking measures would be better spent battling other diseases,
such as breast cancer, AIDS and diabetes.

 The provocative message is posted by Imperial Tobacco Canada on its Web
site in a bid to kickstart a public discussion.

 The Montreal-based company says it has serious questions about whether
Health Canada's $480-million, five-year Tobacco
 Control Strategy -- which funds everything from hard-edged TV ads to
smoking cessation programs -- is producing "sound
 policies."

 But a spokesman for a leading anti-tobacco group says Imperial is
adopting a "divide and conquer" strategy so that disease-ridden
 Canadians will lobby the government to spend more on their affliction,
and less on anti-smoking measures.

 In its Web site posting, described as a "dialogue," Imperial asks:

 - how much money is being given to a "well-financed anti-tobacco lobby;"

 - whether the government only cares about non-smokers and ignores those
"who choose to legally use legal products;"

 - how the government reconciles its "policies and attitudes towards
smokers" with the fact that it depends on billions of dollars in
 tax revenues from cigarette sales.

 "There is always more than one side to every story," says Imperial.

 "Opinions should be shared. And policies should be questioned. Or has
political correctness these days gone so far that no one
 dare ask," says the company's Web posting.

 "The absence of any real analysis or probing questions is surprising.
How can any government spend $480 million on anything
 and not be required to justify it in the face of scrutiny -- if not
from the political opposition, then at least from the media? Perhaps
 political correctness demands one can only criticize the funding as too
little. In fact, $480 million is a lot of money."

 Imperial lists examples of other health-related initiatives that $480
million could finance. It says the money would cover fees for
 2,709 family doctors for a year, and pay for flu shots for almost every
Canadian for two years.

 As well, the company does some comparative calculations, saying that
$480 million is 32 times the amount of money that Health
 Minister Anne McLellan dedicated last fall to researching obesity, more
than four times the federal fund to combat diabetes,
 almost 40 times Health Canada's five-year funding for hepatitis C
research, more than 14 times the Canadian Breast Cancer
 Initiative's five-year funding program, and more than double the annual
funding for the Canadian Strategy on AIDS/HIV.

 Neil Collishaw, research director at Physicians for a Smoke-Free
Canada, said the Imperial Web posting is outrageous and
 Canadians should not be fooled by it.

 "It is entirely unethical. If you're going to set yourself up to give
public health advice or advice on how money should be spent on
 which priorities, how about cleaning up your own house first? And the
house of tobacco is a pretty dirty one."

 Mr. Collishaw said he believes the company is frightened at how recent
federal anti-smoking initiatives have helped reduce the
 smoking rate. (In 1996, 29 per cent of Canadians 15 and older smoked;
today, it's down to 21 per cent.)

 "It's certainly divide and conquer," said Mr. Collishaw. "It's doing
what their mission statement says -- to improve the social
 acceptability of smoking."

 Christina Dona, manager of media relations at Imperial, said the
posting is designed to prompt public discussion about whether
 there is sufficient "accountability" for the millions in taxpayers'
dollars spent by Health Canada on tobacco control. She said the
 company is merely raising questions about the allocation of funds,
saying the purpose of showing how else the $480 million
 could be spent was to provide a "yardstick" on how much money is involved.

 Federal officials defended the tobacco control program as a success.

 Farah Mohamed, director of communications for Ms. McLellan, said the
government is committed to a program that warns people
 of the dangers of smoking, helps prevent stores from selling tobacco to
minors, and encourages smokers to quit the habit.

 "Tobacco is the leading cause of death and disease in Canada," she
said, noting it kills an estimated 45,000 Canadians annually.
 "Think about that for one second."

 "No one for a moment should think that the tobacco companies are going
to agree with the methods of Health Canada. And I
 think we'd be naive to suggest that they would. Our goal is to
encourage people not to smoke. Their goal is to sell a product."

 Ms. Mohamed denied the tobacco control program lacks accountability and
defended the payment of funds to anti-tobacco
 groups. She said the department provides a total of $8 million annually
to more than 50 groups -- ranging from the Canadian
 Cancer Society to the Canadian Public Health Association -- to help
spread the word about the dangers of smoking.

 Mr. Collishaw said his group, Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada, is
among those that get government funds and he said it's a
 "fine use of public money."

 "It's hard for me to say that in a way that doesn't exude some self
interest. But just think about it. I don't have a product to sell to
 people that I can make a profit on. We're a charitable organization and
a public interest organization. And that's what turns our
 crank. It isn't making more money to drive a bigger Mercedes."

 http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/story.asp?id=3D7B791DA1-C423-41=
E8-AF09-75E13015126A

 Additional story links:

 Anti-smoking campaign cost questioned - National Post/CanWest News
 http://www.canada.com/national/story.asp?id=3DF9B1FCF6-A094-4B7A-BF3E-7199=
059A6FC6
 Anti-smoking campaign cost questioned - Vancouver Sun/CanWest News
 http://canada.com/national/story.asp?id=3DF9B1FCF6-A094-4B7A-BF3E-7199059A=
6FC6

 Imperial Tobacco links:

 The Anti-Tobacco Policy: Where is the money going? What is it
achieving? - Dialogue/Imperial Tobacco
 http://www.imperialtobaccocanada.com/newsletter?en,17
 La politique antitabac: O=F9 va l'argent? O=F9 sont les r=E9sultats? -
Dialogue/Imperial Tobacco
 http://www.imperialtobaccocanada.com/newsletter?fr,18