|
Colleagues,
Distinguished Guests and
Members of the Press,
It is a great pleasure for me to address you on
this historic milestone on the road toward a tobacco free world.
Today, I am joined by partner organizations and
world class athletes, as we launch the Tobacco Free Sports campaign,
Play it Clean.
This winter in Salt Lake City the world will
celebrate Tobacco Free Olympic games, and this summer in the Republic
of Korea and Japan, for the first time ever, the Tobacco Free FIFA
World Cup will take place. The kick-off of the FIFA World Cup
coincides with our World No Tobacco Day celebrations as well.
Sport is a celebration of life. From the impromptu
game in the park to school teams and local leagues, to national
championships, World Cups and the Olympics - sports inspire healthy
living, healthy competition and fun.
Tobacco products, on the other hand, degrade life
and cause disease and death. Tobacco kills more than four million
people every year, and is estimated to kill 8.4 million people per
year by 2020.
Tobacco is a communicated disease. It is
communicated through advertising and sponsorship. The most pernicious
and pervasive form of that marketing is found in sports stadiums and
arenas world wide.
Tobacco companies pump hundreds of millions of
dollars per year into sponsoring sports events worldwide. They claim
they are sponsoring sports out of a sense of philanthropic duty. Their
internal documents tell another story. They reveal that tobacco
companies use sports sponsorship as an avenue for advertising their
products. Such marketing tactics are remarkably effective in
increasing tobacco sales and recruiting new smokers, especially among
children and youth.
The International Olympic Committee, the Fédération internationale de Football Association, the Fédération
internationale de l’Automobile, the United States Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, Olympic Aid and other regional and
local sports organizations, together with world class athletes, will
join WHO in this campaign for Tobacco Free Sports.
Athletes, sports organizations, national and local
sports authorities, school and university sports teams, sports media
and everyone interested in physical activity are invited to join this
campaign for Tobacco Free Sports. WHO urges people everywhere to take
back their right to health and healthy living and to protect future
generations from the preventable death and disease caused by tobacco.
Thank you.
|
