Tobacco is a Deadly Product

-         Tobacco kills up to half of its users.

-         Tobacco kills nearly 6 million people each year, of whom more than 5 million are from direct tobacco use and more than 600 000 are nonsmokers exposed to second-hand smoke. Unless urgent action is taken, the annual death toll could rise to more than eight million by 2030.

-         Tobacco caused 100 million deaths in the 20th century. If current trends continue, it may cause about one billion deaths in the 21st century.

-         There is no safe level of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke.

-         In adults, second-hand smoke causes serious cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, including coronary heart disease and lung cancer. In infants, it causes sudden death. In pregnant women, it causes low birth weight.

The World Lacks Protection from Tobacco

-         Under 11% of the world’s population are protected by comprehensive national smoke-free laws.

-         National comprehensive health-care services supporting cessation are available in only 19 countries, representing 14% of the world’s population.

-         Just 19 countries, representing 15% of the world’s population, meet the best practice for pictorial warnings, which includes the warnings in the local language and cover an average of at least half of the front and back of cigarette packs. No low-income country meets this best-practice level. Forty-two countries, representing 42% of the world’s population, mandate pictorial warnings.

-         Only 19 countries, representing 6% of the world’s population, have reached the highest level of achievement in banning tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.

-         Around 38% of countries have minimal or no restrictions at all on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.

-         Only 27 countries, representing less than 8% of the world’s population, have tobacco tax rates greater than 75% of the retail price.

-         Tobacco tax revenues are on average 154 times higher than spending on tobacco control, based on available data.

The Tobacco Epidemic is Widespread

-         Nearly 80% of the world’s one billion smokers live in low- and middle-income countries.

-         Consumption of tobacco products is increasing globally, though it is decreasing in some high-income and upper middle-income countries.

THERE IS A SOLUTION!

Implement the WHO Framework Convention Alliance: 

MORE INFORMATION:

- Why ban tobacco advertisements?

- Best Practices for Banning Tobacco Marketing

“It is with great pleasure that I announce, ahead of World No Tobacco Day on Friday, that I have received Government approval to begin the process of introducing standardised/plain packaging of tobacco products in Ireland. While many arguments will be made against such an introduction, I am confident that this legislation will be justified and supported purely by the fact that it will save lives” stated Minister Reilly today.

As you are aware, smoking places an enormous burden of illness and mortality on our society with over 5,200 people dying every year from tobacco related diseases – one in two of all smokers will die from their addiction.

To replace the smokers who quit, the tobacco industry needs to recruit fifty new smokers in Ireland every day just to maintain smoking rates at their current level. Given that 78% of smokers in a survey said they started smoking under the age of 18, it’s clear that the tobacco industry focuses on children to replace those customers who die or quit.

The theme of World No Tobacco Day is “Ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship”. “The introduction of standardised packaging will remove the final way for tobacco companies to promote their deadly product in Ireland.” the Minister said. Cigarette packets will no longer be a mobile advertisement for the tobacco industry. Research has shown that packaging has been used effectively to reassure consumers about the risks of smoking for example with the use of the words “mild” or “light” on packs in the past. Research has also shown that imagery and colours are also used to influence consumers. Pack shape and design are also key measures with packets available that resemble a lipstick box.

Standardised packaging of tobacco products will remove all form of branding – trademarks, logos, colours and graphics. The brand name would be presented in a uniform typeface for all brands and the packs would all be in one plain neutral colour.

There is strong evidence that standardised packaging will:

• Increase the effectiveness of health warnings;
• Reduce false health beliefs about cigarettes; and
• Reduce brand appeal particularly among youth and young adults.

Minister Reilly concluded “plain packaging is one of a number of measures that are required to effectively denormalise smoking in our society. As such this initiative should not be looked at in isolation. Education and awareness, cessation services and extending the smoking ban to other areas are just some of the other measures which I am currently progressing.”

NOTES FOR EDITOR:

An informative video by Cancer Research UK on the power that cigarette packaging has on children is available online at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_z-4S8iicc

WASHINGTON, DC. 30 May – The days of actors dressing up as doctors to promote cigarette brands may be long over, but if you think tobacco advertising has been effectively banned, think again. Slick ads in magazines, in stores and on the Internet still reach millions of consumers a day, perpetuating their cycle of death and disease and effectively replacing “customers” who have succumbed to tobacco use.

Globally, tobacco use kills nearly six million people each year, and about 450,000 in the United States. Unless urgent action is taken, the annual death toll could rise to more than eight million worldwide by 2030. Studies have shown that tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship (TAPS) is the driver of this global epidemic.

Although the U.S. has since fallen behind in its efforts, it was among the earliest to impose various restrictions, including a ban on tobacco advertising on billboards, radio and television. However, this does not stop the industry from spending nearly $10 billion a year on domestic marketing. In fact, this money is accomplishing its goal – every day, about 3000 children try smoking, and about 1000 become long-term smokers.

While 19 countries, representing 425 million people or six per cent of the world’s population, have now established comprehensive measures to eliminate TAPS, another 74 countries  currently have no or very limited restrictions.

In addition, nearly every established global measure is challenged by the powerful multinational tobacco industry.  For example, in 2012 Australia became the first country in the world to mandate plain tobacco packages – free of manufacturers’ logos, colors, and other brand imagery, and instead dominated by graphic health warnings. The tobacco industry immediately launched legal challenges in national courts and under a trade agreement with Hong Kong. Fortunately, such challenges have galvanized public health supporters around the world leading other governments, including New Zealand, the UK, South Africa and India, to consider plain packaging.

Big tobacco has spent a century creating a dream world where attractive, young, empowered people express their individuality with a cigarette in hand. The reality is more like a nightmare – addiction, disease, and an early death.

On May 31, 2013, the 26th annual World No Tobacco Day, the global community must recognize Big Tobacco’s schemes to undermine bans on TAPS, and must support governments that are trying to protect public health.

For World No Tobacco Day 2013, ASH will release a video that showcases the nightmare world that tobacco companies strive to achieve through the use of advertising, promotion, and sponsorships.

“If done properly, bans on tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship do work,” says Laurent Huber, Executive Director of Action on Smoking and Health, the nation’s oldest anti-tobacco organization. “These efforts must include monitoring opposition from the tobacco industry and other groups, and amending bans as required in response to innovations in industry tactics and media technology.”