As tobacco companies aggressively market throughout Asia, a number of countries are beefing up their anti-smoking efforts, the Detroit News reported Oct. 6.In South Korea and Japan, lawsuits against tobacco companies are growing, while Thailand, India, Vietnam and island nations in the Pacific have tightened tobacco-control laws. The Thai government, for instance, banned smoking scenes on television, while India tightened its rules on selling tobacco to minors. In Vietnam, "cigarette girls" can no longer hand out samples and tobacco advertising is prohibited.
China, which has one-third of the world's smokers, also implemented stricter advertising restrictions. In addition, government officials created an Office of Smoking and Health, banned smoking in public places in 11 cities, and is in helping to draft an international anti-smoking plan.
"We don't underestimate the battle here -- it's huge," said Stephen A. Tamplin, who coordinates Asian anti-smoking efforts of the World Health Organization (WHO). "But we're encouraged. We think there's renewed interest in tobacco control."
Using lessons learned in the United States, anti-smoking activists have become media savvy and have encouraged activism by nonsmokers. "We have evidence on what strategies work and what works well," said Annette David, a WHO technical adviser.
According to WHO, smoking rates are increasing in Asia faster than anywhere else in the world. China is the world's largest tobacco market. "If the war is lost in China, it's lost in the world," David said.
Smoking has been accepted in Asia mainly because of the money the tobacco business brings to government. Lee Jakyoung, an environmental health activist in Seoul, notes, "The Ministry of Health wants to promote anti-smoking education in Korea, but they are opposed by the other agencies because of the revenues."
Varaborn Bhumiswasdi, a public-health official in Thailand, said anti-smoking efforts have a long way to go before having an impact. "There are not many people around Asia that are working on tobacco control; there's not the political will," he said. "This battle still has a long way to go."
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