Tobacco Treaty Talks Focus on Smoking Deaths March 19, 2002
News Summary
A sharp increase in smoking-related deaths was the focus of discussion as negotiations for an international tobacco treaty resumed this week in Geneva, Switzerland, the Associated Press reported March 18."Every single one of those four million people who died last year could have lived longer -- five years longer, 10 years longer, 20 years longer," said World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland. "It is these lives and lost years which provide us the answers to those who will speak to you of profits and marketing gains, of special concessions and 'reasonable' campaigns. There is nothing reasonable about tobacco deaths."
The aim of the negotiations between 190 U.N. nations is to complete the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The treaty is expected to be in place by May 2003.
Brundtland stressed the need for the treaty to include advertising and sponsorship bans, anti-smuggling measures, product regulation, and better education.
Brazilian ambassador Luis Felipe de Seixas Correa, the new chairman of the talks, called on delegates to speed up the treaty's progress. On one end of the spectrum, African countries want a tough treaty that would completely ban marketing and sponsorship and require tighter tobacco controls, such as labeling regulations. On the other hand, Japan wants a weaker version because of the government's stake in Japan tobacco.
Matti Rajala, chief negotiator for the European Union (EU), hoped to unify its 15 nations so a tougher treaty could be realized.
"It is a fairly radical measure to put a member state or two against the wall," said Rajala. "But the EU was no longer happy with the lowest-common-denominator principle. One hundred million people died last century from tobacco, which is more than the population of the EU's largest country, Germany. If we are not successful, in the first 25 years of this century, 150 million people will die, which is double the population of Germany. This is an unprecedented health challenge we have. There's nothing similar in history."
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