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The Growing Global Tobacco Epidemic and the International Response

The Growing Global Tobacco Epidemic and the International Response. Ross Hammond Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids University of Washington 2 May 2007. 1. Tobacco & Globalization 2. Tobacco & Poverty 3. The Global Toll 4. The International Response. 1. Tobacco & Globalization.

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The Growing Global Tobacco Epidemic and the International Response

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  1. The Growing Global Tobacco Epidemic and the International Response Ross Hammond Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids University of Washington 2 May 2007

  2. 1. Tobacco & Globalization2. Tobacco & Poverty3. The Global Toll4. The International Response

  3. 1. Tobacco & Globalization • Free Trade & Financial Liberalization have greatly increased profit opportunities for Big Tobacco • Global Communications/Marketing has helped them take advantage of these opportunities • Coordinated Lobbying has ensured (so far) that their profits are protected

  4. “Tobacco exports should be expanded aggressively, because Americans are smoking less.” -- U.S. Vice-President Dan Quayle, 1990

  5. Global Expansion Fuelled By: • opening up of formerly closed economies (FSU, E. Europe, China) • pressure to liberalize investment laws and privatize state-owned industries • pressure to embrace “free trade” (as defined by the West) & expansion of free trade areas in Asia & L. America

  6. Complete Transformation of the Global Tobacco Industry in the Last 25 years • Privatization of state-owned tobacco monopolies • Joint-venture agreements • Consolidation/mergers • Between 1991-2001, over 140 mergers and acquisitions

  7. Global Expansion • In 2002, Philip Morris, BAT and Japan Tobacco operated in over 50 countries each and had combined tobacco sales of over $121 billion, a sum greater than the combined GDPs of: Albania, Bahrain, Belize, Bolivia, Botswana, Cambodia, Cameroon, Estonia, Georgia, Ghana, Honduras, Jamaica, Jordan, Macedonia, Malawi, Malta, Moldova, Mongolia, Namibia, Nepal, Paraguay, Senegal, Tajikistan, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe

  8. Philip Morris Czech Rep Hungary Sri Lanka Costa Rica Kenya Senegal US$ billions Philip Morris Tobacco Revenue& Select Country GDPs (2000) Source: Philip Morris, World Bank

  9. “We are still in the foothills when it comes to exploring the full opportunities of many of our new markets.” -- Geoffrey Bible, Philip Morris CEO, 1996

  10. US Government Has Promoted Tobacco Overseas • 1980s: Threat of trade sanctions to pry open Japan, Thailand, S. Korea & Thailand. In S. Korea led to 10% increase in prevalence. • 1999: US-China treaty for PNTR included provision requiring China to slash tariffs on imported cigarettes • 2001: Pressure on S. Korea not to raise tobacco tariffs

  11. “Philip Morris strongly supports NAFTA and also supports the Uruguay Round process….We are well positioned to take advantage of the new opportunities that the removal of trade barriers will offer us. I see both the NAFTA and the Uruguay Round as real “winners” as far as Philip Morris is concerned.” -- Internal Philip Morris document, 1994

  12. Global Communications & Marketing

  13. Traffic Lights in Bucharest, Romania

  14. “This is a market with tremendous potential. The rate of population growth is 2.2. percent each year, and 40 percent of the population is under 18.” -- Philip Morris Turkey, 1997

  15. Thailand

  16. “Give me an amerika” Czech slang for a good cigarette

  17. Global Lobbying Effort In every region of the world: http://www.library.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docsbiblio.html

  18. “Tobacco use is unlike other threats to global health. Infectious diseases do not employ multinational public relations firms. There are no front groups to promote the spread of cholera. Mosquitoes have no lobbyists.” -- WHO Zeltner Report, 2000

  19. “We must try to stop the development towards a Third World commitment against tobacco. We must try to get all or at least a substantial part of Third World countries committed to our cause….We must try to mitigate the impact to WHO by pushing them into a more objective and neutral position.” -- BAT internal document, 1979

  20. 2. Tobacco & Poverty

  21. How Tobacco Impoverishes Individuals • Money spent on tobacco cannot be spent on food, health care or education. • In Bangladesh, over 10.5 million malnourished people could have an adequate diet if money spent on tobacco was instead spent on food.

  22. Child Labor • Use of child labor in tobacco growing and manufacturing widespread. • These children miss out on educational opportunities that could help lift them out of poverty.

  23. How Tobacco Impoverishes Families • Smokers are at much higher risk of falling ill and dying prematurely. If the main breadwinner becomes ill from tobacco, the family loses that person’s income AND has to bear the additional health care costs.

  24. Tobacco Farming Can Lead to Indebtedness & Ill Health • Extremely labor-intensive • Requires expensive inputs (fertilizers, pesticides, etc.) • Pesticide and nicotine poisoning common.

  25. Tobacco Growing: Who Profits? • Limited # of purchasers for tobacco. Farmers dependent on the companies to grade tobacco (and thus set price). • A tobacco farmer in Brazil would need to work for 6 years to earn what BAT's Director earns in a single day. It would take him 2,140 years to earn the Director’s annual salary.

  26. How Tobacco Impoverishes Countries • Environmental Damage • Increased Health Care Costs • Lost productivity due to illness and premature death • Foreign exchange losses

  27. Environmental Damage • Wood used to cure tobacco in many countries. Each year an est. 494,000 acres of forest is cut down (equiv. to ¾ the size of Olympic Natl. Park) • Tobacco leeches nutrients from the soil, requiring more fertilizer use. Runoff from fields pollutes watersheds vital for drinking water.

  28. Environmental Damage Has Economic Costs • All of this environmental damage has an economic cost, though not currently captured in official statistics.

  29. Increased Health Care Costs • In high income countries, annual tobacco-attributable health care costs est. at between 6% and 15% of total health care costs (very few estimates for low income countries). • In China, direct and indirect tobacco-attributable health care costs est. at $6.5 billion per year in mid-’90s.

  30. Lost Productivity • If current trends persist, about 500 million people alive today will eventually be killed by tobacco, half of them in productive middle age, each losing 20 to 25 years of life.

  31. Foreign Exchange Losses • Most countries import more tobacco leaf, tobacco products and tobacco-related machinery than they export. • Most tobacco profits repatriated to the home countries of the multinationals.

  32. Tobacco’s Economic Importance Exaggerated • Despite industry claims, few countries benefit from tobacco. Only 5 derive more than 5% of export earnings from tobacco • Tobacco represents small % of the labor force. In Brazil (world’s largest tobacco exporter), tobacco accounts for less than 2% of the ag. labor force.

  33. 3. The Global Toll

  34. Global Causes of Death * WHO World Health Report 2002

  35. The Coming Epidemic

  36. Global Deaths Currently: • 4.9 million people die per year • 13,400 people per day • 560 people every hour By 2030: • 10 million people a year will die from tobacco use • 70% of those deaths will occur in developing countries

  37. 4. The International Response • FCTC • Civil Society • Donor Community

  38. Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) • 1st international public health treaty • Objective: to protect present and future generations from the devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke ...

  39. FCTC • Preamble • 38 Articles • 168 Countries Have Signed • 146 Have Ratified (not the U.S.) • Find the full text at www.fctc.org

  40. FCTC: Key Provisions `

  41. Japan Thailand Pakistan Enact comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising, promotion & sponsorship within 5 years of ratification (some exceptions)

  42. Place rotating health warnings on packs that cover 30% or more of the package and can include pictures or pictograms

  43. Ban the use of misleading and deceptive terms such as "light" and "mild"

  44. Protect citizens from exposure to tobacco smoke in workplaces, public transport and indoor public places

  45. Other Key Provisions • Encourage tobacco tax increases • Establish & finance ntl. coordinating body • Include cessation services in ntl. health progs • Prohibit free distribution of tobacco • Promote NGO participation • Prohibit sales to minors • No reservations allowed

  46. Framework Convention Alliance (FCA) • Diverse alliance of over 250 NGOS from more than 90 countries working to support FCTC ratification and implementation WWW.FCTC.ORG

  47. “The participation of civil society is essential in achieving the objective of the Convention and its protocols.”

  48. STAGED EVENTS DURING FCTC MEETINGS

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