[Intl-tobacco] NOT a good WHO DG candidate: Julio Frenk, Mexican Health Minister

[robert weissman]

Dear Friends,

The World Health Organization (WHO) will elect a new Director-General at
meetings held in Geneva from 6-9 November 2006. There are currently 13
candidates. One of the leading candidates is Julio Frenk, the Mexican
Health Minister, whose Ministry cut a deal in 2004 with Philip Morris
and BAT that instituted weak tobacco control standards.

Below please find a statement questioning Frenk's judgment and
qualifications for the WHO Director-General position. Please circulate
widely! In particular, it would be helpful if you could DISTRIBUTE IT TO
MEDIA IN YOUR COUNTRY. Feel free to add quotes or otherwise revise.

Thanks!

Anna White
Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control
Essential Action

####

WHO DIRECTOR-GENERAL CANDIDATE JULIO FRENK AND THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY

DEAL WITH BIG TOBACCO CALLS INTO QUESTION JUDGMENT AND QUALIFICATIONS


The World Health Organization (WHO) will elect a new Director-General at
meetings held in Geneva from 6-9 November 2006.

There are currently 13 candidates. One of the leading candidates is
Julio Frenk, the Mexican Health Minister.

In 2004, Frenk's health ministry signed an agreement with the Philip
Morris and BAT. In exchange for a voluntary peso-a-pack contribution
from the tobacco industry to a health insurance fund, Mexico will adopt
some very modest tobacco control measures that fall far short of the
mandates of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC, which
Mexico has ratified). The agreement also ties the government's interests
to the tobacco industry well-being, and terminates if the government
imposes significant tobacco taxes.

Under the terms of the deal [1]:

* There will be a minor limitation on billboard ads for tobacco. The
FCTC calls for a complete advertising ban.

* The companies agree to place warnings on cigarette packs. These
warnings are ambiguously worded, smaller than mandated by the FCTC, and
do not include graphic images as called for by the FCTC. Additional
package inserts are confusing [2].

* The companies agree to donate one peso to the health ministry for
every pack of cigarettes sold. This is a donation and voluntary, not a
tax payment. As a result, it is tax deductible.

* The donations are to be paid only if sales remain "stable," and BAT
and Philip Morris maintain control of at least 97 percent of the
national market.

* The donations also terminate if tobacco taxes are raised. In other
words, the donations are contingent on Mexico not taking the single most
effective step to reduce tobacco use -- raising tobacco taxes.

Health Minister Frenk justified the deal on the grounds that it was the
only way to ensure tobacco funds would be directed toward health, since
there is no earmarking of taxes in the Mexican system [3]. But this
claim ignores the fact that the government could simply have
appropriated the additional funds raised from a tax to health purposes
[4]. Questions have also been raised about whether the deal has in fact
significantly boosted collected revenues from the industry [5].

Health Minister Frenk's deal makes the health ministry an effective
partner with the industry, gives the tobacco industry a PR boost and
political cover to deter future regulation, and directly undermines the
government's ability to enact effective tobacco control measures.

As a February 2006 British Medical Journal article [6] noted:

Passing tobacco laws in Mexico is already politically difficult. This
agreement will substantially raise the political hurdle to passing new
tobacco legislation because the tobacco lobby will be strengthened by
interests associated with the public health programme. The fund will
become dependent on industry sales since the more cigarettes that are
sold, the more money the fund will receive. The donation also provides
the industry with an opportunity to improve its public image. The goal
of tobacco control should be to limit industry activities and sales and
to change society?s view of smoking and of the industry.

------

[1] See Jonathan Samet, Heather Wipfli, Rogelio Perez-Padilla, Derek
Yach, "Mexico and the tobacco industry: doing the wrong thing for the
right reason?" British Medical Journal, February 11, 2006, at:
http://nosmoking.ws/frenk/MexicoSamet.pdf

[2] See Ernesto Sebrie, University of California, San Francisco, "
Mexico: backroom deal blunts health warnings. September 2006, at:
http://nosmoking.ws/frenk/Mexico.doc

[3] See http://fctc.org/DG/response_Frenk.php

[4] See Ernesto Sebrie? and Stanton A Glantz, "The Tobacco Industry in
Developing Countries Has Forestalled Legislation on Tobacco Control,"
British Medical Journal, February 11, 2006, available at:
http://nosmoking.ws/frenk/BMJEditorial.pdf

[5] See Mexico, Paradise of Cigarette Manufacturers,? El Seminario
[English version] August 2006, at:
http://nosmoking.ws/frenk/Mexico_Frenk_Eng.doc

[6] See http://nosmoking.ws/frenk/MexicoSamet.pdf

For news clips on the Frenk-BAT/Philip Morris deal and more information,
see: http://nosmoking.ws/frenk/

The Framework Convention Alliance, an international coalition of tobacco
control organizations, has sent a survey to DG candidates asking for
their views on a range of tobacco control matters. The responses,
including from Julio Frenk, are available at: http://fctc.org/DG

CONTACT:
Anna White, Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control, Essential Action
(Washington, DC)
Email: awhite@essential.org, awhite@essentialinformation.org
Tel: +1 202-387-8030