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Honourable Minister,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is an honour to address you all here today, on
31 May, World No Tobacco Day, and to present the "2001 Smoke Free
Award" to Gerd-Liv Valla, the first woman leader of the Norwegian
Confederation of Trade Unions, and Jens Hoel, President of the Hotel
and Restaurant Workers’ Union. This
prize is bestowed upon them for their tireless efforts, insight and
courage to stand up to protect the health of the citizens of this
country from the threat of tobacco.
In just one year, at the head of this country’s
labour movement, Gerd-Liv Valla has succeeded in raising the issue of
protecting workers from second-hand smoke to the forefront of
political and public debate. She has pointed out that smoke-free
environments are an obvious right - as obvious as the right not to be
exposed to other poisonous chemicals or health hazards in the work
environment. She has strongly contributed to a deeper understanding of
tobacco as a serious problem in the workplace.
Of course, tobacco control is not a new debate in
Norway. Almost 30 years ago, Norway set the standard by banning
tobacco advertising. From the very beginning, the world has watched
Norway to see how cutting edge tobacco control measures would work -
public health advocates and tobacco companies alike. The measures have
worked. Smoking prevalence and tobacco sales have dropped since the
ban was put in place. Neither the press nor the advertising industry
suffered the terrible setbacks that were predicted by those who were
against.
The last quarter of a century saw the advent of
strong measures concerning health warnings, increased minimum
purchasing age, tax increases, and bans on promotion and indirect
advertising as well as on vending machines.
But we must not rest on our laurels. To see
continued reduction in the numbers of smokers, we need to be
constantly on the alert.
1988 and 1995 saw the passage of laws restricting
or banning smoking in many public places. As of last year, Norway’s
cigarette prices were the highest in the world, with three-quarters of
the price as tax. Public awareness, education and advocacy are ensured
by a diverse coalition of government, health, medical and sports
associations. I salute their efforts.
Today, with the draft legislation that you have
helped to advance, Norway is poised, once again, to make tobacco
control history.
We know that second-hand smoke kills. It is
estimated that in Norway alone, it kills more than 500 people every
year. It increases a non-smoker’s risk of ischemic heart disease and
lung cancer by 25%. It causes bronchitis, pneumonia and other
respiratory diseases. It causes middle-ear infections and asthma in
children. Fetal exposure to smoke - either the pregnant woman’s
smoke or second-hand smoke - reduces the average birth weight of
babies, who then face a higher risk of developing medical problems and
learning disabilities. Tragically, exposure to second-hand smoke in
utero substantially increases the risk of sudden infant death
syndrome or crib death.
Approximately 700 million, or almost half, of the
world’s children are exposed to second-hand smoke.
Here in Norway, you have worked hard to protect
children, pregnant women and other adults - first in public transport,
schools, and hospitals - then in restaurants and bars. And now
finally, we have the chance to much more fully protect people at work.
Let’s face it: most workers are simply not in a
position to change their work environment or leave their jobs to
protect their health. In most cases, where tobacco free workplaces are
not guaranteed, employees are obliged to spend the majority of their
waking hours in health-threatening situations. A recent study
calculated the amount of chemicals inhaled by a typical restaurant
worker during an eight-hour shift. I can tell you; the list is
frightening: lead, cadmium, formaldehyde, benzine, chromium, nickel -
all known carcinogens. Not to mention carbon monoxide, tar and
nicotine. Until now, there was no prospect for change.
It took courage and insight to get this far. We
have learned many lessons along the way. Contrary to what some would
have us believe, there is no "jobs vs. tobacco" ultimatum.
Rather than endangering jobs and economies, effective, comprehensive
tobacco control only improves economic prospects by saving lives,
protecting the health of citizens, and creating a healthier, more
productive population. Leaders here in Norway have understood that
tobacco free workplaces are not only a fundamental right of employees
- but that they also translate into lower absenteeism, lower health
costs and a more productive work force.
In many countries in the world, however, these
messages are clouded by the efforts of tobacco industry
intermediaries. Investigations into previously secret documents show
us that tobacco industry alliances with hotel and restaurant
associations, very often undisclosed to the associations’
membership, have adversely influenced policy and hindered the passage
of legislation to protect customers and workers in the hospitality
industry around the world.
WHO’s own inquiry into tobacco industry tactics
to undermine tobacco control activities at the Organization revealed
that tobacco companies actively sought to prevent the International
Labour Organization (ILO) and other UN organizations from supporting
WHO’s tobacco control efforts. The companies’ principal focus was
to convince trade organizations and labour and management leaders in
ILO to resist WHO’s policies. Among the fruits of these efforts was
a wide dissemination of false arguments that spuriously pitted
effective tobacco control and public health against workers’
livelihoods and economic well-being.
Since 1999, the establishment of the Ad Hoc
Interagency Task Force on Tobacco Control by the UN Secretary-General,
Kofi Annan, has significantly expanded the horizons for multisectoral
collaboration on tobacco control across the UN system. Under WHO’s
leadership, the work of the Task Force has led to new projects and
partnerships, and has helped to highlight important initiatives such
as the ILO’s work on occupational safety and health.
The ILO has considerable experience in the
promotion of healthy workplaces and is helping employers and employees
achieve tobacco free workplaces around the world. Support and demand
for tobacco free workplaces from labour movements, as well as ILO’s
input on these issues are of course critical. We hope that important
initiatives on healthy, tobacco free workplaces such as this will be
strengthened and spread to other countries and continents.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
While we rightly take a moment during this World No
Tobacco Day celebration to savour the progress we have made and take
heart in the lives spared from suffering and premature death caused by
exposure to toxic carcinogens, we must also realize that there is more
work to be done.
The theme for this year’s World No Tobacco Day is
Tobacco Free Sports. In a few hours, football teams from France and
Senegal will kick off the world’s largest sporting event and the
world’s first tobacco free world cup - competitions free from
tobacco advertising, free from tobacco sponsorship, free from
second-hand smoke. This year’s world cup is only the latest in a
list of tobacco free sports events, including the 2002 Salt Lake
Winter Olympics and Paralympics.
The Fédération Internationale de Volleyball
announced just this morning that they too will join the Tobacco Free
Sports movement. Today in countries around the world, many other
sports federations, teams, organizers, and athletes will announce
their decision to go tobacco free. They know that tobacco and sports
do not mix. They understand that tobacco companies hijack the fun and
excitement of sports and the agility and success of top athletes to
sell their deadly products.
The Tobacco Free Sports Initiative has defined the
unacceptable: tobacco and sport simply do not mix! No longer should
the public tolerate tobacco advertising, promotion or sponsorship of
sport, athletes or venues.
While we work hard to kick tobacco out of sport -
we cannot forget that advertising and promotion continue unopposed on
many global fronts. Tobacco companies expertly twist reality - selling
death as life, disease as health, and addiction as the taste of
freedom on television, radio, magazines, newspapers, billboards and
the internet in most countries in the world.
The numbers are impressive. Figures released last
week tell us that in the United States alone, the six top tobacco
companies spent an unprecedented US$ 9.57 billion in promotional
spending in the year 2000. This represents a 16% increase from 1999,
which also saw record-breaking spending. Faced with advertising
restrictions and bans, companies are now spending more for promotions
such as in-store displays and free product giveaways.
This comes at a time when tobacco companies are
working hard to change their image - and sometimes even their name! -
to win public respectability and project corporate social
responsibility.
Tobacco companies claim that they do not "sell
smoking." They claim that they do not target children. They seek
shelter behind voluntary marketing codes and industry-sponsored youth
anti-smoking campaigns, that they would have the public believe
"protect" young people.
But the voluntary marketing codes fall short of
most countries’ national legislation; and the youth campaigns simply
portray tobacco use as an adult choice, failing completely to address
the health dangers of tobacco. As was described in this week’s
American Journal of Public Health, industry-funded campaigns to get
youth off tobacco are designed to be ineffective.
The globalization of the tobacco epidemic has meant
that no country can afford to go it alone: even countries with the
most comprehensive tobacco control programmes face the risk that their
successes may be undone by transnational advertising and illicit trade
in tobacco products.
The globalization of the epidemic has propelled the
need for multilateral commitment and action to protect present and
future generations. If we should have hope to tackle this - the world’s
single largest preventable cause of death - we knew we would have to
respond with powerful means.
We certainly need an effective tool to reduce the
crippling burden of disease and death caused by the tobacco epidemic.
Significant progress has been made. Global efforts
to prevent exposure to second hand smoke and to ensure the adoption
and implementation of legislation to create tobacco free public places
and workplaces represent an area where significant progress towards
agreement was reached during the last round of negotiations in March
of this year.
Norway is setting the example for the world to
follow in the area of tobacco product regulation. Norway has already
hosted two ground-breaking consultations of the Scientific Advisory
Committee on Tobacco Product Regulation. The aim of this Committee,
working at the cutting edge of scientific research, is to provide
Member States with scientifically sound recommendations which
countries can use to establish and strengthen regulatory systems for
tobacco.
Tobacco product regulation is also being considered
for inclusion in the Framework Convention and, once again, Norway is
taking a lead, and has called for the negotiation of a protocol
focusing on product regulation when the scientific evidence matures
sufficiently to support such global action.
Broad agreement has also been reached concerning
the implementation of strong measures against smuggling. The United
States has invited countries to gather in New York this summer to
focus on this particular issue to strengthen global action against
illicit trade in tobacco. The outcomes could provide future guidance
to FCTC negotiators.
WHO stands beside countries working hard to
overcome political differences in the name of public health. I am
personally committed to seeing that the FCTC negotiations reach their
successful conclusion in May 2003 and to supporting this process. To
this end, I will stress the importance of reaching agreement on the
treaty text when I address each of WHO's Regional Committee meetings
later this year, and I will also work alongside the Chair of the
Negotiating Body, Ambassador Seixas Corrêa of Brazil, to expedite
progress in negotiations.
We have seen the ravages of the tobacco epidemic
and we know that it is our responsibility to stop the needless
suffering of millions that lines the pockets of a select few. The
tragedy and waste of the tobacco epidemic makes the implementation of
effective tobacco control measures, and the adoption of the Framework
Convention by May 2003, both an ethical and public health imperative.
We are meeting this challenge in towns, cities and
countries every day. I stand together with you here today to support
and congratulate your local and national efforts and ask for your
continued support of global efforts to protect health, save lives, and
spare future generations the suffering caused this an entirely
man-made epidemic.
Thank you.
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