[Intl-tobacco] Sign on letter to WHO Exec Board re: Julio Frenk -- Pls respond by THURSDAY, 11/2!

[robert weissman]

Dear Friends,

The election for the Director General position at the World Health
Organization is scheduled for the week of November 6.

We are writing to ask you to sign the letter below urging WHO Executive
Board Members not to support the DG candidacy of Mexican Health Minister
Julio Frenk.

Dr. Frenk is one of the leading candidates for the Director General
position, but he has a worrisome record in the area of tobacco control.
Many of us have been very critical of Frenk for the deal he entered into
with Philip Morris and BAT.

A short summary of the deal and concerns about it is at:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/whodg/. More detailed information
is available at: http://nosmoking.ws/frenk/

As attention has been focused on the deal, rather than apologize for his
misguided action, Dr. Frenk has continued to defend the agreement. We
think his continued defense of the deal disqualifies him from leading
the world's public health agency.

If your organization would like to sign on to the letter, please send
the following information BY THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2 to <awhite@essential.org>=
:

Organization Signing on:
Country:
Organization Representative:
Representative's Title:
Representative's Email:

Sincerely,

Anna White
Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control
Essential Action
Tel: +1 202-387-8030
Fax: +1 202-234-5176
Email: awhite@essential.org (or awhite@essentialinformation.org)

#####

Dear Executive Board Member,

We are writing to express our opposition to the Director-General
candidacy of Dr. Julio Frenk, and to encourage you not to lend your
support to him.

There are many enormous public health challenges confronting the world.
Among the most serious is the toll of death and disease exacted by
cigarette smoking.

We are concerned that Dr. Frenk, in his capacity as Mexican Minister of
Health, entered into a negotiation with the multinational tobacco
industry. The result was an agreement by which the industry made a
modest financial contribution to a health insurance fund. But the deal
made the health ministry an effective partner with the tobacco industry,
gave the industry a public relations boost and political cover to deter
future regulation, and by its terms directly undermined the government's
ability to enact effective tobacco control measures.

Every candidate for Director General has indicated the importance they
place on tobacco control. Only Dr. Frenk has reported entering into a
negotiation with the multinational tobacco companies. Unfortunately,
rather than state that the negotiation was a mistake and violation of
the spirit of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Dr. Frenk
continues to insist it was proper.

We do not doubt Dr. Frenk's commitment to advancing a global health
agenda. But on the crucial matter of international tobacco control, we
believe that his involvement with the agreement with the tobacco
industry -- which he refuses to renounce -- disqualifies him as a final
candidate for the Director-General post. We therefore urge you not to
support his candidacy.

PRELIMINARY LIST OF GROUPS SIGNED ON:

Brazil:
Alian=E7a de Controle do Tabagismo

Colombia:
Campa=F1a NO tabaco

Costa Rica:
FUPRODENOF

El Salvador:
Centro para la Defensa del Consumidor (CDC)
EXFUSAL (Asociaci=F3n  de exfumadores salvadore=F1os)

Honduras:
Acci=F3n para la Promoci=F3n de Ambientes Libres de Tabaco (APALTA)

Mexico:
Proyecto "Tabaquismo en la Comunidad Universitaria"

Peru:
Comisi=F3n Nacional permanente de Lucha Antitabaquica (COLAT-PER=DA)

United States:
Essential Action

Uruguay:
Alianza Nacional para el Control del Tabaco
Asociaci=F3n Civil Fumadores Pasivos Uruguayos
Comisi=F3n para el Control del Tabaquismo del Sindicato M=E9dico del Urugua=
y
Red por un Uruguay Libre de Tabaco (RULTA)

Venezuela:
Fundaci=F3n Venezolana del Coraz=F3n