Disguised Introduction of Tobacco in Mainstream Products

The WHO International Conference on Global Tobacco Control Law: Towards a WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control 7 to 9 January 2000, New Delhi, India Paper Consumer Protection and Tobacco - NGO Strategies for Combating Tobacco Proliferation in Developing Countries of Asia Authors Sri Ram Khanna (Ph. D.) Roopa Vajpeyi (Ph.D) Ms. Mary Assunta Reader : Commerce and Business Studies, Reader : Dept. of English, Kamala Nehru University of Delhi, Honorary Managing College, Consumers’ Association of Penang Trustee, VOICE University of Delhi (CAP) 228, Macalister Road, Voluntary Organisation in Interest of Voluntary Organisation in Interest of 10400 penang, Malaysia. Consumer Education (VOICE) Consumer Education (VOICE) F-71 Lajpat Nagar II, New Delhi 110024 India F-71 Lajpat Nagar II, New Delhi 110024 India Email : <[email protected]> Email : <[email protected]> Email: <[email protected]> This paper is commissioned by, and produced for the World Health Organization, Geneva INTRODUCTION With the tobacco companies being booted out of the North, the South has become a target of hard sell strategies adopted by the tobacco giants. Non-governmental organisations in a number of developing countries have recognised this and taken up the challenge to fight tobacco proliferation. NGO’s have used a wide variety of strategies and measures resulting from their experience, skills and the environment in which they operate. These strategies are by no means similar. Yet one can feel a common thread running through them. Chapter 27 of Agenda 21 on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) identifies as a major challenge “the need to activate a sense of common purpose in all sectors of society.” The common purpose in the context of this paper is to mobilise awareness among various civil society agencies to combat the tobacco menace. From farmers to educational institutions, from health workers to employment sectors, from governmental departments to entertainment business, tobacco spreads its tentacles to all social and economic, political and cultural aspects of human existence. Many of the above agencies are actually working for the tobacco industry, either knowingly or due to pressures beyond their understanding and control. Medical and scientific studies from all across the world have increasingly reiterated the fact that tobacco kills. This paper will focus on what has been done by NGOs and what can be done in key specific areas of health, education, legislation and policy formulation in tobacco issues to protect the health of citizens as consumers. The need of the hour is for feasible and people oriented solutions to the wide range of manipulative, devious and dangerous practices of the tobacco forum. Through the detrimental health and social effects of tobacco have been proven and documented beyond doubt. Tobacco consumption continues to thrive in the developing countries. The problem has been compounded by low awareness levels, faulty legislation and crumbling cultural curbs. Policing tobacco proliferation is not an easy job for the administrative, legislative and judicial systems, which are somewhat, removed from the ground realities. The need for an effective instrument to bring about healthy changes-both attitudinal and legislative-has never been more acutely felt. It is at this crucial juncture that NGOs need to step in and stem tobacco proliferation by making it a mass movement through community investment. With anti-tobacco crusades initiated by NGOs already showing steady and encouraging results in some areas, there arises a need to scrutinise their work to facilitate understanding of their approaches. This exercise is especially important because Asian communities are steeped in culture and no two communities can be called alike in nature, composition or traditions. NGOs recognised this quality early and have made an earnest effort to utilise the characteristic to the advantage of their campaigns. With the diversification of their activities, the unique features of their approaches have also become evident and a clear outline of distinct methodologies has come to light. Yet, they have common vulnerable points like poverty and illiteracy, which make them susceptible to onslaught of slick advertising. With tobacco advertising capturing people’s imagination on the one hand and NGOs making strides in their tobacco eradication campaigns on the other, it becomes important to do an in-depth study of all those tools that have been put into use by anti-tobacco activists in the consumer movement and civil society. It is only a comprehensive and in-depth study of different strategies adopted by NGOs, individually and in the light of their combined efforts that can show the way for evolving a future course of action. Consumers of tobacco and passive smokers in many countries have begun to actively exercise their rights against this lethal product. People who have suffered and governments, are going to court to get compensation. Public pressure and intolerance against this product is intensifying. Legislation is tightening around this product particularly in the west and consumption is going down. The decrease in consumption and public pressure in the US and Western Europe, have resulted in the tobacco transnationals turning to Asia and other developing countries to make up for their declining sales in their 1 home markets and also to exploit cheap production costs. Today Asia presents a lucrative and fastest growing market in the world at the rate of 8 percent per annum. Tobacco transnationals practice scandalous marketing tactics in developing countries that they are not allowed to pursue in their home countries. They blatantly advertise, sponsor music and sports events, and give away free cigarettes to teenagers. The women in gold saris handing out Benson & Hedges cigarettes in Sri Lankan discos, young women dressed in red and white handing out free Marlboros in Cambodia, the Salem Cool Planet concerts in Malaysia, are all testimony to scandalous double standards and total disregard for human life. In 1964 the US Surgeon General issued the first report declaring cigarettes to be a major cause of disease and death. Despite this knowledge, the U.S. government was instrumental in forcing the opening of markets in Asia in the eighties that were then closed to its tobacco transnationals. Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Thailand were running their own tobacco monopolies with promotions. But after U.S. using the Super 301 trade clause, opened these markets and captured the young with glittery advertisements, the results were devastating. After the arrival of the Marlboro Man and other American cigarettes, smoking among the young in these countries rose significantly: 16 percent in Japan, increased from 19.5 to 32.2 percent in Taiwan, and increased 24 percent among the Thai teenage smokers. While a few Asian countries such as Thailand and Singapore have taken giant leaps in tobacco control and made much progress, most countries remain lagging far behind. The lack of comprehensive tobacco control policy, coupled with weak legislation and lax enforcement has caused tobacco transnationals to play havoc on Asians. In some parts of Asia, governments themselves have a stake in the tobacco industry. Hence they find themselves in a conflicting situation to control and regulate an industry on one hand while on the other make monetary gains from it. Many Asian countries are also young economies just opening up their markets to transnational corporations and this puts them in a vulnerable position against the powerful tobacco companies. Hence there is a reluctance to take a strict and non-compromising stand on tobacco control activities. The tobacco industry has also cleverly created strong alliances with farmers, workers and traders who inevitably become dependent on the industry. The key to lobbying and advocating for better tobacco control measures lies with consumer groups and NGOs. Being people-based organisations, they possess in-depth knowledge of communities and the complexity of problems afflicting them. They also have skills in public mobilisation and apply people orientated, feasible solutions to problems. II. TOBACCO AND THE ROLE OF VARIOUS STAKEHOLDERS STAKEHOLDERS Governments Judiciary Industry NGOs Consumers 2 GOVERNMENTS Analysis of Its Present Stance Government in the process of fulfilling its responsibility towards its citizens is expected to provide every individual a chance to live a healthy life. In some cases reality is diametrically opposite to this stated role. This is so because of the short sighted approach to development which most governments adopt in the developing countries. The cash starved governments do not want to impede their revenue collections by legislation which can hamper industry even if the industry is out right harmful to the people, as is the case with the tobacco industry. What is required to correct this lapse in government policy is not only that governments have to undertake serious research to estimate the loss of revenue on account of diminishing productivity but also the health costs which the state bears in a heavily subsidised health sector and compare it to the revenue generated by its support of the tobacco industry. This scenario does not stop with individual countries. It has now acquired a north/south profile because multi-lateral bodies like the WTO with their pro-industry and developed nations stance have further complicated the issue. Therefore the present stance of the governments

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