*Move will help to reduce the half a million tobacco-related deaths in America each year*
(May 5th, 2016, New York, USA) – Global public health experts Vital Strategies today welcomed the news that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has finalized its “deeming” rule and extended its authority to cover all tobacco products. This is another positive step for public health in a week that has seen India’s Supreme Court uphold large graphic warnings on tobacco packaging and the European Court of Justice rebut legal challenges to the Tobacco Products Directive.
José Luis Castro, President and Chief Executive Officer, Vital Strategies commented:
“In recent years we’ve seen big tobacco try to shore up its traditional cigarette market in the USA, while also cynically promoting alternatives like hookah to attract youth. We hear the industry’s proclamations that they’re investing in “reduced harm” products, even as they continue to try to deny the truth about products they market as “Light” and “Low Tar”. They try to claim to be good citizens, even as they use the marketing tactics that attracted youth to smoking in previous decades to build a market for their new products. All these products use misleading information, appealing marketing and youth-friendly flavors to mask their true nature, leading to addiction and harm. As always, the industry’s only concern is profit.
“While many other countries around the world – including low and middle income countries in Asia and Africa – had moved ahead with progressive tobacco control regulations to protect their citizens in recent years, the USA had fallen behind. Today’s announcement sends the message that the tobacco industry’s attempts to derail “deeming” have failed and that the U.S. Government will assert its right to protect American citizens.
“However, the FDA could have gone further – as Europe did with the Tobacco Products Directive – to ban menthol cigars and cigarettes. The flavoring masks the true nature of those products, which are particularly popular among women and youth, leading to addiction and harm equal to traditional cigarettes. Europe was also more robust in acting to limit the increasingly pervasive e-cigarette marketing that is targeting and driving up usage among youth.
“It’s particularly important that American consumers will be better warned about the harms of tobacco products, on ads and on tobacco packaging. Too many tobacco users and tobacco victims in the USA are from vulnerable populations and have lower levels of education and literacy. Graphic warnings will be especially helpful in raising awareness of tobacco’s harms among these people. There will be a global impact, too. The opponents of graphic warnings in low and middle income countries have been able to point to the USA’s lack of warnings as a justification for their opposition. Today, that argument is weakened – but other countries are still leading with way with plain packaging (Australia, Ireland, France and the UK) and large graphic warnings (Singapore, Thailand, Nepal, India and Myanmar).
“Nevertheless, this is a positive and progressive policy decision that will deliver real health benefits. Moreover, the requirement for new products to be tested and approved will mean the tobacco industry won’t find it as easy in the coming years to introduce new products under false and unproven claims of harm reduction. Coming on the back of decisions this week in India and Europe, the FDA’s announcement is another victory for global health. America – and every other country – has the right and the obligation to act to reduce tobacco use. We hope other countries now find renewed impetus to strengthen their own tobacco control laws.”
About tobacco use in the United States
According to The Tobacco Atlas, 17.2 percent of men and 14.2 percent of women smoke tobacco in the United States. This means that over 40 million adults smoke cigarettes every day. A further 3.4% of adults use smokeless tobacco products, which also cause harm. Nearly 200,000 boys and girls say they smoke cigarettes every day. Every year, tobacco-related disease kills nearly half a million US citizens. In 2010, 19.2 percent of male deaths and 15.8 percent of female deaths were caused by tobacco.
About Vital Strategies
Vital Strategies envisions a world where every person is protected by a strong public health system. Our team combines evidence-based strategies with innovation to help develop sound public health policies, manage programs efficiently, strengthen data systems, conduct research, and design strategic communication campaigns for policy and behavior change. Vital Strategies was formed when The Union North America and World Lung Foundation joined forces. It is an affiliate of The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union).
To find out more, please visit vitalstrategies.org or Twitter @VitalStrat
For further information or to arrange an interview with a Vital Strategies public health expert, please contact Tracey Johnston, Vital Strategies, at +44.7889.081.170 or tjohnston@vitalstrategies.org