Scientific Report
PROJECT NUMBER: 103330-009 Scientific Report Direct and Indirect Tobacco Advertisement, Sponsorship and Promotion in Four Cities of China This study was carried out with the aid of a grant from Research for International Tobacco Control (RITC) of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the financial support of the Canadian Tobacco Control Research Initiative, the American Cancer Society, and Cancer Research-UK. 1 1. Background Tobacco advertisement, promotion and sponsorship are the leading means that the tobacco industry uses to compete for market share and increase demand for and consumption of its products. As research indicates, tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship not only encourage smokers to continue smoking, but also seduce large numbers of non-smokers into the deadly habit, in particular, luring young people and women to start smoking. If one were to compare smoking to a contagious disease, tobacco advertisement, promotion and sponsorship would be the vectors of transmission, which are to be blamed for the increased smoking rate and disease burden. To reduce the health hazards of tobacco use, restricting and even banning the vectors of transmission are crucial. As a result, a comprehensive ban on tobacco advertisement, promotion and sponsorship is regarded as an essential provision in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO/FCTC). On November 10, 2003, the Chinese government officially signed the WHO/FCTC and on August 28, 2005, the 17th meeting of the 10th People’s Congress’s Standing Committee considered and approved the Convention, making China the 89th country to ratify it. The Convention has provided a legal framework for global control of the harms of tobacco, and collective protection of the health of all human beings.
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