Regional Director’s Statement: World No Tobacco Day 31 May 2006

Tobacco: Deadly in Any Form or Disguise

Tobacco addiction is a global epidemic that is increasingly ravaging countries and regions that can least afford its toll of disability, disease, lost production and death. The tobacco industry continues to put profit before life, its own expansion before the health of the future generations and its own economic gain ahead of the sustainable development of poor countries.

There are over 1.3 billion smokers in the world today and half of these will eventually be killed by tobacco. Tobacco is the second commonest cause of death in the world today and is responsible for the death of one in ten adults worldwide, a figure that translates to 5 million deaths per year. If the current consumption pattern continues, the number of deaths is projected to reach 10 million per year by the year 2020, of which, 70% will occur in developing countries.

Data shows that in the year 2000, tobacco use prevalence was 29% in adult males and 7% in adult females in the African Region. The tobacco industry is fleeing the harsh regulations in the developed countries and relocating to the poor South, this creates new challenges for developing countries. Tobacco companies continue to expand their product range with new variants of ‘light’, ‘mild’ and ‘low tar’ cigarettes campaigns popular in the 20 th century, falsely reassuring the public by offering these new products with the illusion of safety. They continue to take their old and new customers to more insidious levels of deception by promoting and selling new products disguised under healthier names such as fruity flavours or more attractive looking packages.

This year’s theme for World No Tobacco Day “Tobacco: “Deadly in any form ordisguise”, is timely and is to sensitize consumers and policy makers to the fact that use of ANY tobacco product is extremely harmful and that ALL tobacco products, not only cigarettes, should be strictly regulated. The theme also relates in part to articles 9, 10, and 11 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control that addresses the issues of testing, regulations and disclosure of ingredients in tobacco products and tobacco smoke and misleading labeling on tobacco packaging.

Research in developed countries such as Canada and the USA, has shown that a large percentage of smokers wrongly believe that “low tar” cigarettes contain less tar and nicotine and that these are less harmful than the regular cigarette. Research also shows that the introduction of these brands has dissuaded many smokers from quitting smoking by giving the concerned smokers an ‘incentive’ to switch to lower tar/nicotine levels. Raising awareness about these misleading terms and brands should be the primary focus of all countries in the region.

Division of Prevention & Control of Non Communicable Diseases

Switching to light cigarettes does not translate into reduced risk of developing a smoking-related disease. Quitting smoking is the only way to significantly reduce the risk of developing and eventually dying from a tobacco-related disease. Policy makers MUST therefore prohibit use of misleading terms and related labeling on tobacco packaging such as “low tar”, “light”, “chocolate flavour”, “natural” and other “fruity flavours” or using “attractive colour patterns”.

Tobacco packaging is a critical advertising vehicle for tobacco companies Brands can convey sophistication, toughness, rebelliousness, femininity, or masculinity, and a whole host of other images. These images are particularly important to adolescent smokers, who are still trying to establish their identity. Conversely, tobacco packages can be used to discourage use, either by putting health warnings or through plain packaging. “A picture tells a thousand words”, so it seems with package warnings. Research has found that strong, relevant image-based warnings inform smokers even better than written messages and motivates them to quit smoking, including those who can not read.

We take advantage of this day to appeal to governments not only to ratify the framework Convention on Tobacco control but also to implement it fully. To date, 27 countries from the African Region, accounting for more than half of the region, have ratified the convention. Concerted efforts from the governments, the private sector, Non-governmental organizations and the general public is needed to raise awareness using the theme Tobacco: deadly in any form or disguise. With this, I am convinced that we will control the tobacco epidemic and its harmful effects.

Thank you.