Kenya: beach party "helps" tobacco bill
http://www.100md.com
《烟草控制杂志》
As we know, one of the most serious dangers of the implementation process of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is that tobacco companies will make cash strapped developing country governments offers they cannot refuse, to "help" draft the necessary laws. With this in mind, it is easy to imagine the bitter disappointment of Kenyan health advocates last November. In the same week that their country had proudly announced it was ratifying the FCTC, they learned of a junket thrown in connection with the country’s tobacco bill for more than 40 members of parliament (MPs), at an exclusive resort on the coast. Some of the MPs were of ministerial rank, and one was a doctor in whose constituency tobacco is the main crop, an area where health experts say there are significant, related health problems.
The seaside jaunt was hardly a secret: the country’s leading newspaper, The Daily Nation, carried the story as its front page lead under the provocative and revealing headline, "MPs have fun at Tobacco Bill talks", complete with a photograph—of questionable aesthetic appeal—of some of the MPs entering the water at the luxurious hotel where the "workshop" took place. Overleaf, readers were treated to another paddling picture and some suggestions from an MP about essential amendments that would need to be made to the bill, predictably the industry friendly sort that we all know so well. There was also a defensive statement from the public relations firm reported to have organised the event, denying that tobacco manufacturers were behind it, though failing to confirm who was.
The despondent health workers can take comfort, however, that they clearly have friends in the right places. The newspaper did no favours to the MPs, reporting that they had received handsome cash allowances on top of their travel and subsistence costs; and its reporter elicited the important information that the health ministry, commendably, had boycotted the event. But if this is how it is to be in poor countries that try to do the right thing by the FCTC, we may see sinister events like this repeated all over the world, as the industry tries to ensure that life under the treaty can mean business as usual.
USA: Philip Morris (PM) has quietly phased out the "LOWERED TAR & NICOTINE" on packs of Marlboro Lights, apparently starting in 2003. Over several decades, tobacco manufacturers have been strident in their defence of being allowed to print whatever they want on cigarette advertisements and packs, citing the vital necessity of informing customers of important consumer information. Strangely, PM does not appear to have informed its customers about why it dropped the claim from its packs—perhaps one factor was the guilty verdict in a consumer fraud case where a judge concluded in 2003 that PM misled smokers by suggesting light cigarettes were safer than regular varieties. At the appeal hearing last November, PM’s lawyer, former Illinois Governor James Thompson, was asked to comment on why the label was removed—after all, if there was no fraud, why remove the statement? He was unable to provide an answer. Although PM has removed the words, the cigarettes still seem to contain filter vents—which were central to the charge of deception.
hina: tobacco museum’s "smoky" health information
Shanta Varma, Karen Choi, Malcolm Koo and Harvey Skinner
University of Toronto, Canada; m.koo@utoronto.ca
The very fact that there is a prestigious new China Tobacco Museum shows how tobacco’s status in China is still far from compatible with the country’s urgent need for serious, effective tobacco control. It was inaugurated in Shanghai City last July, to subdued local excitement. Funded entirely by the Chinese tobacco industry, under the leadership of the State Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, to the tune of 180 million Renminbi (US$21.7 million), this is the world’s largest tobacco museum. The museum spans over 3000 square metres and houses over 150 000 artefacts, depicting the 400 year history of tobacco in China. Its aim is to promote a "positive" image of the tobacco industry and to expand its influence in society. It also aims to celebrate Chinese culture and civilisation.
Entrance to the China Tobacco Museum, recently inaugurated in Shanghai City.
Representations of a historical ocean going ship and a Mayan temple are on the museum’s beautifully finished exterior. Inside, the exhibits further emphasise that tobacco culture "came from abroad". In addition to information on tobacco history, the museum states that one of its main purposes is health protection. An exhibit on smoking and tobacco control measures informs the visitor that smoking is harmful, while a nearby placard claims that due to findings from the 1940s that smoking decreases mental tension, "there is no need to object to cigarette smoking". The exhibit does not mention the addictive nature of cigarettes. Furthermore, most of the "more recent" medical information presented was published in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and thus excludes any substantive coverage of passive smoking.
The exhibits range from the agricultural production of tobacco to its importance in the national economy. Elsewhere in the museum, the "gorgeous and colourful tobacco culture" of China is displayed: elaborate water pipes from the 1800s, ornate snuff containers more than 300 years old, cigarette advertisements from the 1930s, and historical figures depicting people involved in the tobacco industry.
The museum is smoke-free except the final "exhibit", which houses a smoking bar. Visitors must pass through this area, inhaling second hand smoke, in order to reach the gift shop where they can purchase their favourite brand of cigarettes. The website of the China Tobacco Museum (in Chinese) hosted within that of the State Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, is at
Japan: health advocates are still finding ample evidence of the concerted efforts of cigarette companies to recruit young women to smoking (see Japan: smoke clouds over the land of the rising sun. Tobacco Control 2003;12:8–10). This picture shows another recent example of an unmistakeably female "starter pack", complete with cigarette lighter. The brand is a version of Virginia Slims, made by RJ Reynolds (RJR), whose non-US operations are now owned by Japan Tobacco. Ironically, internal tobacco industry documents show that in September 1998, Adam Bryon Brown, responsible for RJR International’s markets outside the USA, wrote, "We don’t target female smokers. We don’t encourage anyone, male or female, to smoke. We do recognize that female smoking is increasing in some countries. No one knows for sure why this is the case but it appears to be linked to female emancipation and higher disposable incomes. It is certainly nothing to do with promotional activities by tobacco companies."(David Simpson)
The seaside jaunt was hardly a secret: the country’s leading newspaper, The Daily Nation, carried the story as its front page lead under the provocative and revealing headline, "MPs have fun at Tobacco Bill talks", complete with a photograph—of questionable aesthetic appeal—of some of the MPs entering the water at the luxurious hotel where the "workshop" took place. Overleaf, readers were treated to another paddling picture and some suggestions from an MP about essential amendments that would need to be made to the bill, predictably the industry friendly sort that we all know so well. There was also a defensive statement from the public relations firm reported to have organised the event, denying that tobacco manufacturers were behind it, though failing to confirm who was.
The despondent health workers can take comfort, however, that they clearly have friends in the right places. The newspaper did no favours to the MPs, reporting that they had received handsome cash allowances on top of their travel and subsistence costs; and its reporter elicited the important information that the health ministry, commendably, had boycotted the event. But if this is how it is to be in poor countries that try to do the right thing by the FCTC, we may see sinister events like this repeated all over the world, as the industry tries to ensure that life under the treaty can mean business as usual.
USA: Philip Morris (PM) has quietly phased out the "LOWERED TAR & NICOTINE" on packs of Marlboro Lights, apparently starting in 2003. Over several decades, tobacco manufacturers have been strident in their defence of being allowed to print whatever they want on cigarette advertisements and packs, citing the vital necessity of informing customers of important consumer information. Strangely, PM does not appear to have informed its customers about why it dropped the claim from its packs—perhaps one factor was the guilty verdict in a consumer fraud case where a judge concluded in 2003 that PM misled smokers by suggesting light cigarettes were safer than regular varieties. At the appeal hearing last November, PM’s lawyer, former Illinois Governor James Thompson, was asked to comment on why the label was removed—after all, if there was no fraud, why remove the statement? He was unable to provide an answer. Although PM has removed the words, the cigarettes still seem to contain filter vents—which were central to the charge of deception.
hina: tobacco museum’s "smoky" health information
Shanta Varma, Karen Choi, Malcolm Koo and Harvey Skinner
University of Toronto, Canada; m.koo@utoronto.ca
The very fact that there is a prestigious new China Tobacco Museum shows how tobacco’s status in China is still far from compatible with the country’s urgent need for serious, effective tobacco control. It was inaugurated in Shanghai City last July, to subdued local excitement. Funded entirely by the Chinese tobacco industry, under the leadership of the State Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, to the tune of 180 million Renminbi (US$21.7 million), this is the world’s largest tobacco museum. The museum spans over 3000 square metres and houses over 150 000 artefacts, depicting the 400 year history of tobacco in China. Its aim is to promote a "positive" image of the tobacco industry and to expand its influence in society. It also aims to celebrate Chinese culture and civilisation.
Entrance to the China Tobacco Museum, recently inaugurated in Shanghai City.
Representations of a historical ocean going ship and a Mayan temple are on the museum’s beautifully finished exterior. Inside, the exhibits further emphasise that tobacco culture "came from abroad". In addition to information on tobacco history, the museum states that one of its main purposes is health protection. An exhibit on smoking and tobacco control measures informs the visitor that smoking is harmful, while a nearby placard claims that due to findings from the 1940s that smoking decreases mental tension, "there is no need to object to cigarette smoking". The exhibit does not mention the addictive nature of cigarettes. Furthermore, most of the "more recent" medical information presented was published in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and thus excludes any substantive coverage of passive smoking.
The exhibits range from the agricultural production of tobacco to its importance in the national economy. Elsewhere in the museum, the "gorgeous and colourful tobacco culture" of China is displayed: elaborate water pipes from the 1800s, ornate snuff containers more than 300 years old, cigarette advertisements from the 1930s, and historical figures depicting people involved in the tobacco industry.
The museum is smoke-free except the final "exhibit", which houses a smoking bar. Visitors must pass through this area, inhaling second hand smoke, in order to reach the gift shop where they can purchase their favourite brand of cigarettes. The website of the China Tobacco Museum (in Chinese) hosted within that of the State Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, is at
Japan: health advocates are still finding ample evidence of the concerted efforts of cigarette companies to recruit young women to smoking (see Japan: smoke clouds over the land of the rising sun. Tobacco Control 2003;12:8–10). This picture shows another recent example of an unmistakeably female "starter pack", complete with cigarette lighter. The brand is a version of Virginia Slims, made by RJ Reynolds (RJR), whose non-US operations are now owned by Japan Tobacco. Ironically, internal tobacco industry documents show that in September 1998, Adam Bryon Brown, responsible for RJR International’s markets outside the USA, wrote, "We don’t target female smokers. We don’t encourage anyone, male or female, to smoke. We do recognize that female smoking is increasing in some countries. No one knows for sure why this is the case but it appears to be linked to female emancipation and higher disposable incomes. It is certainly nothing to do with promotional activities by tobacco companies."(David Simpson)