WHO-EM/TFI/003/E/L Distribution: Limited Report on the WORKSHOP ON ENHANCING THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA IN TOBACCO CONTROL Cairo, Egypt, 31 May–3 June 2001 World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean Cairo 2002 © World Health Organization 2002 This document is not issued to the general public and all rights are reserved by the World Health Organization (WHO). The document may not be reviewed, abstracted, quoted, reproduced or translated, in part or in whole, without the prior written permission of WHO. No part of this document may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means —electronic, mechanical or other—without the prior written permission of WHO. Document WHO-EM/TFI/003/E/L/05.02/85 CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 1 2. TECHNICAL PRESENTATIONS.................................................................................... 2 2.1 Tobacco control in the Eastern Mediterranean Region............................................ 2 2.2 Tobacco and the media ............................................................................................ 3 2.3 Addressing issues in the media ................................................................................ 3 2.4 FCTC: A legal instrument for tobacco control ........................................................ 4 2.5 FCTC: the power of the process .............................................................................. 4 2.6 Local experience ...................................................................................................... 4 2.7 How cigarette companies induce women to smoke ................................................. 5 2.8 The tobacco industry secret documents................................................................... 5 2.9 “Don’t be Duped – Tobacco Kills” .......................................................................... 6 2.10 Report on the journalism skills training sessions .................................................... 8 3. THE RELEASE OF THE REGIONAL REPORT Voice of truth , Volume 2..................... 9 Annexes 1. AGENDA........................................................................................................................ 10 2. PROGRAMME ................................................................................................................11 3. LIST OF PARTICIPANTS.............................................................................................. 12 WHO-EM/TFI/003/E/L 1. INTRODUCTION In celebration of World No Tobacco Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO) organized, jointly with Reuters Foundation and WHO headquarters, the first regional workshop on enhancing the role of the media in tobacco control at the Regional Office in Cairo from 31 May to 3 June 2001. Twenty-five media representatives took part from Egypt, Islamic Republic of Iran, Jordan, Pakistan and Syrian Arab Republic. The objectives of the workshop were to: ?? strengthen the tobacco control message among journalists and the media; ?? develop new strategies for involvement of the media in tobacco control; and ?? enhance the media’s understanding of issues related to tobacco. The format of the workshop featured speaker sessions to raise media awareness of developments in global, regional and national efforts to control tobacco usage, and working groups devoted to enhancing journalistic skills in addressing health issues. The agenda, programme and list of participants of the meeting are attached as Annexes 1, 2 and 3, respectively. Opening the meeting, Dr M.H. Khayat, Senior Policy Adviser, delivered a message on behalf of Dr Hussein A. Gezairy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean. He said that the success of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), now under discussion by WHO Member States, depended largely on public acceptance and political commitment, and the media could be a most influential force in this process through adopting the right message. Diseases associated with tobacco use killed more than 4 million people every year, and in most countries of the Region the smoking rate had reached 50% among men and 10% among women. The situation among young people of both sexes was even more dangerous, he said. These terrifying figures were the consequence of direct and indirect tobacco promotional campaigns, and should ring loud alarm bells. If the situation continued, the Region would face a true disaster, entering the new century with a whole generation of disabled people. Technology now made it possible for all those involved in tobacco control to communicate easily and widely, and to set up networks to follow up tobacco control initiatives. The success of efforts to control tobacco at the regional level depended on rapid communication of pertinent resolutions and initiatives, to enable implementation on the widest possible scale. Because individual sources of information now depended largely on regional and national electronic and print media, their role was vital in addressing the tobacco epidemic and its impact on people’s daily lives, as well as on governments. The media, said Dr Gezairy, not only had a role but also a responsibility to address aspects of the tobacco epidemic, especially the activities of the tobacco industry, which were designed to undermine tobacco control efforts. WHO-EM/TFI/003/E/L Page 2 The first volume of the regional report Voice of truth, which was released during the International Consultation on Litigation and Public Inquiry as Public Health Tools for Tobacco Control, had revealed the strategies and plans of multinational tobacco companies to target the Region, as shown by their own documents available on internet. In volume two of the same regional report, which was released in time for World No Tobacco Day, the tobacco industry was shown to have conspired to stop tobacco control efforts and ha d even attempted to influence public acceptance of the Islamic ruling on smoking, which declared smoking to be prohibited from a religious standpoint. The tobacco companies went further, even spying on decisions and initiatives of the Regional Office and other parties. Urgency was needed at regional and national levels to revise national plans and the steps needed to control tobacco, with a view to re-evaluating the situation in view of these new known facts on the activities of the industry. Now more than ever, public health workers should create alliances with all possible parties and identify new partners within civil society to help raise public health status and increase public awareness of tobacco use. Hand-in-hand with other parties, the media could create an environment where tobacco could be controlled, Dr Gezairy concluded. The proceedings began with a showing of a brief media spot for World No Tobacco Day. The spot theme was second-hand smoke and it emphasized the harmful effects of second-hand smoke on children and women. The spot was in both English and Arabic and, as explained by Dr Fatimah El-Awa, had been distributed to all Member States within the Eastern Mediterranean Region. 2. TECHNICAL PRESENTATIONS 2.1 Tobacco control in the Eastern Mediterranean Region Dr F. El-Awa, Acting Regional Adviser, Tobacco Free Initiative, EMRO Dr Fatimah El-Awa, presented a detailed illustrated review of the current situation regarding tobacco control in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, against the background of the decision by the WHO Director -General to make the Tobacco Free Initiative a priority programme. Statistics demonstrate the spread of the smoking epidemic among men, women and children in countries of the Region. To combat this, effective legal action is needed against the activities of the tobacco companies. Such action might include litigation and public inquiries. Local action would be needed in line with international changes. The most successful policies in tobacco control contain: ?? comprehensive legislation, including a comprehensive ban on advertising; ?? development of the health system to integrate tobacco control including cessation into primary health care; ?? economic interventions; ?? public education; WHO-EM/TFI/003/E/L Page 3 ?? multi-sectoral collaboration; ?? regular surveys, studies a nd data collection. The regional plan of action for tobacco control which was adopted by the Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean Region in 1999 to date produced the following changes: ?? In Egypt, the First Lady adopted a plan of action ?? Jordan and Morocco formed national committees for tobacco control ?? Sudan is reviewing national legislation and the Republic of Yemen is developing such legislation ?? In Oman, the court supported a ban on smoking shisha in public places, while in the Islamic Republic of Iran smoking was banned in public places. Dr El-Awa said challenges remained in the areas of forming new partnerships, gaining media support, making new uses of technology, targeting particular groups, raising resources and drawing up comprehensive polic ies. 2.2 Tobacco and the media Mrs Mona Yassin, Technical Adviser, Information WHO/EMRO Mrs Mona Yassin explained that there had been a development in the media message on tobacco control. During the 1990s, that development was evident in covering more activities than the celebrations of the World No tobacco Day. More attention was given to medical studies and more