Getting tough with second-hand smoke
Saturday, 21 July 2007
Marwaan Macan-Markar
The global anti-tobacco movement has just armed itself with tough new language capable of clearing the air at workplaces, restaurants and bars of tobacco smoke.
The breakthrough, secured at a week-long conference here, was endorsed by 146 developed and developing countries. They backed a call for ''strong guidelines'' to snuff out second-hand smoke in public areas.
The guidelines will offer national and local governments a ''road map'' to establish smoke-free environments in a bid to protect the health of non-smokers and wean smokers away from their habit.
''Sound science proves there is no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke,'' Dr. Douglas Bettcher, head of the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Tobacco Free Initiative, said at the concluding press conference. ''These guidelines will be implemented to counteract the myths of the tobacco industry that second-hand smoke is only a nuisance.''
An estimated 700 million children are exposed to the fumes of ''deadly second-hand smoke,'' he pointed out, adding that ''200,000 people die every year due to second-hand smoke at their workplace.''
The push to create a smoke-free environment is a trend that has picked up momentum in the past three to four years due to increased public perception about this issue, said Dr. Haik Nikogosian, head of the WHO's office for the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). ''It is remarkable, because four years ago we could not imagine a ban on smoking in pubs and restaurants.''
The meeting in Bangkok, which ran from Jun. 30 - Jul. 6, was the second Conference of Parties (COP2) to have endorsed the FCTC. It identified the case against second-hand smoke as one in a list of issues that needed strengthening. Other areas of concern addressed were illicit tobacco trade, labelling of tobacco products and tobacco advertising that cuts across national boundaries.
The FCTC is the world's first public health treaty that came into force on Feb. 27, 2005. At present, 147 countries have ratified this anti-tobacco treaty of the 168 nations who have signed it. It was adopted by the 192 member-states of the Geneva-based global health body at the 56th World Health Assembly in May 2003.
The need for a tougher language at the COP2 stems from the text of the FCTC on second-hand smoke being watered down during its negotiations, says Laurent Huber, director of the Framework Convention Alliance on Tobacco Control (FCA), a global network of non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
''When the treaty was being negotiated the language in this area was weak. So it was felt that new guidelines had to be established in order to effectively implement the treaty.''
''What was achieved at the COP2 was remarkable,'' he told IPS. ''The countries have agreed that second-hand smoke is a killer. It is a type A carcinogenic.''
But delegates from developing countries expect the road ahead to be a bumpy one, given the way in which tobacco multinationals have been muscling their way in to capture the smoking market in the South as they face opposition in the developed world due to stiffer anti-tobacco laws and a trend against smoking.
''It is a fact that tobacco companies are expanding in the developing world as they lose their traditional markets in the developed world. You can see this all across Africa,'' Dr. Ahmed Ogwell, a delegate from Kenya, said in an interview. ''The companies are going after children through subtle advertising campaigns.''
Kenya, in fact, has already felt the heat from tobacco giants determined to curb local efforts to create a smoke-free environment by introducing bans on second-hand smoke. In May last year, Kenya banned smoking in public places, but the tobacco industry went to court a week after that announcement to challenge that decision, Ogwell revealed. ''That decision has been suspended; it cannot be enforced till the case is heard.''
Public health experts and anti-tobacco NGOs used the Bangkok event to raise concern about how increasingly vulnerable economically weaker developing countries are to pressure from financially powerful tobacco giants. The 10 countries in South-east Asia are typical of this shift, where one of the poorest countries in the region, Laos, has over 1.5 million adults and youth who smoke out of a population of 6.5 million, according to a report by the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA). ''In this group of 10 countries, one million people die from smoking related diseases every year,'' notes Bungon Ritthiphakdee, coordinator of SEATCA. She adds that illiterate and semi-literate people form ''the largest segment of smokers' population, specifically in developing countries.''
The campaign against smoking has grown, with increasing evidence pointing to tobacco consumption being the leading cause of preventable death across the globe. ''With about 5 million tobacco-related deaths per year, no other consumer product is as dangerous or kills as many people as tobacco,'' argues the 'Civil Society Monitoring of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: 2007 Status Report,' which was released by the FCA at the Bangkok conference.
......
IPS
The global anti-tobacco movement has just armed itself with tough new language capable of clearing the air at workplaces, restaurants and bars of tobacco smoke.
The breakthrough, secured at a week-long conference here, was endorsed by 146 developed and developing countries. They backed a call for ''strong guidelines'' to snuff out second-hand smoke in public areas.
The guidelines will offer national and local governments a ''road map'' to establish smoke-free environments in a bid to protect the health of non-smokers and wean smokers away from their habit.
''Sound science proves there is no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke,'' Dr. Douglas Bettcher, head of the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Tobacco Free Initiative, said at the concluding press conference. ''These guidelines will be implemented to counteract the myths of the tobacco industry that second-hand smoke is only a nuisance.''
An estimated 700 million children are exposed to the fumes of ''deadly second-hand smoke,'' he pointed out, adding that ''200,000 people die every year due to second-hand smoke at their workplace.''
The push to create a smoke-free environment is a trend that has picked up momentum in the past three to four years due to increased public perception about this issue, said Dr. Haik Nikogosian, head of the WHO's office for the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). ''It is remarkable, because four years ago we could not imagine a ban on smoking in pubs and restaurants.''
The meeting in Bangkok, which ran from Jun. 30 - Jul. 6, was the second Conference of Parties (COP2) to have endorsed the FCTC. It identified the case against second-hand smoke as one in a list of issues that needed strengthening. Other areas of concern addressed were illicit tobacco trade, labelling of tobacco products and tobacco advertising that cuts across national boundaries.
The FCTC is the world's first public health treaty that came into force on Feb. 27, 2005. At present, 147 countries have ratified this anti-tobacco treaty of the 168 nations who have signed it. It was adopted by the 192 member-states of the Geneva-based global health body at the 56th World Health Assembly in May 2003.
The need for a tougher language at the COP2 stems from the text of the FCTC on second-hand smoke being watered down during its negotiations, says Laurent Huber, director of the Framework Convention Alliance on Tobacco Control (FCA), a global network of non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
''When the treaty was being negotiated the language in this area was weak. So it was felt that new guidelines had to be established in order to effectively implement the treaty.''
''What was achieved at the COP2 was remarkable,'' he told IPS. ''The countries have agreed that second-hand smoke is a killer. It is a type A carcinogenic.''
But delegates from developing countries expect the road ahead to be a bumpy one, given the way in which tobacco multinationals have been muscling their way in to capture the smoking market in the South as they face opposition in the developed world due to stiffer anti-tobacco laws and a trend against smoking.
''It is a fact that tobacco companies are expanding in the developing world as they lose their traditional markets in the developed world. You can see this all across Africa,'' Dr. Ahmed Ogwell, a delegate from Kenya, said in an interview. ''The companies are going after children through subtle advertising campaigns.''
Kenya, in fact, has already felt the heat from tobacco giants determined to curb local efforts to create a smoke-free environment by introducing bans on second-hand smoke. In May last year, Kenya banned smoking in public places, but the tobacco industry went to court a week after that announcement to challenge that decision, Ogwell revealed. ''That decision has been suspended; it cannot be enforced till the case is heard.''
Public health experts and anti-tobacco NGOs used the Bangkok event to raise concern about how increasingly vulnerable economically weaker developing countries are to pressure from financially powerful tobacco giants. The 10 countries in South-east Asia are typical of this shift, where one of the poorest countries in the region, Laos, has over 1.5 million adults and youth who smoke out of a population of 6.5 million, according to a report by the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA). ''In this group of 10 countries, one million people die from smoking related diseases every year,'' notes Bungon Ritthiphakdee, coordinator of SEATCA. She adds that illiterate and semi-literate people form ''the largest segment of smokers' population, specifically in developing countries.''
The campaign against smoking has grown, with increasing evidence pointing to tobacco consumption being the leading cause of preventable death across the globe. ''With about 5 million tobacco-related deaths per year, no other consumer product is as dangerous or kills as many people as tobacco,'' argues the 'Civil Society Monitoring of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: 2007 Status Report,' which was released by the FCA at the Bangkok conference.
......
IPS