Note: World Lung Foundation united with The Union North America. From January 2016, the combined organization is known as “Vital Strategies.”
(July 7th, 2015, New York, USA) – World Lung Foundation today welcomed the World Health Organization (WHO) Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2015, which highlights the importance of effective taxation in reducing tobacco use. WLF supports WHO’s calls for greater use of tobacco taxes to reduce the affordability of tobacco products, particularly in low and middle income countries which suffer most from the health and economic burdens of high rates of smoking prevalence. WLF also calls for greater use of hard-hitting anti-tobacco mass media campaigns to warn people about the serious risks of tobacco use. Such campaigns are proven to encourage quitting, build support for tobacco control interventions like smokefree policies and high tobacco taxes, reduce tobacco use, and reduce second hand smoke exposures.
José Luis Castro Castro, President & CEO, World Lung Foundation, remarked: “It’s said that the only certainties in life are death and taxes. This new report confirms that a failure to increase taxes on tobacco products will certainly lead to more premature death and disease, particularly in low and middle income countries with high levels of smoking and where tobacco is affordable. Even in richer countries, the burden of tobacco disproportionately affects the poor, but studies show that high tobacco taxes and prices have the greatest impact on reducing tobacco use and encouraging quitting amongst these demographics.
“We need to do more to overcome tobacco industry tactics that prevent higher tobacco taxes. Communication and advocacy campaigns can play a key role in educating people about the need for tobacco control, including high tobacco taxes, and rebut industry misinformation. Evidence from around the world shows that high tobacco taxes result in more government revenues, not less – and these monies can be used to fund better healthcare, including preventative public health campaigns. As more smokers cut down and quit and non-smokers decide not to initiate tobacco use for financial reasons, the incidence of tobacco-related non-communicable diseases is reduced. Thus, the combined health and economic benefits can help countries progress towards the achievement of the UN’s post-2015 Strategic Development Goals. In short, high tobacco taxes make social and financial sense.”
The report notes that:
- Only 10% of the world’s population are covered by tobacco taxation at the highest level of achievement
- Around 55% of the world’s population live in a country that has aired at least one national anti-tobacco mass media campaign on TV and/or radio for a duration of at least three weeks in the past two years, but this represents only a 2% increase since the last WHO report
- The majority of the world’s countries (at least 101 countries) haven’t implemented a specific policy to use mass and social media to reduce smoking
- One-quarter of the world’s population was not exposed to an anti-tobacco campaign between 2012 and 2014
- The problem is particularly acute in low income countries. Only 1 in 5 low income countries ran a sustained anti-tobacco mass media campaign between 2012 and 2014
- Citizens in 65% of low income countries, with 58% of the total low-income country population, have not been exposed to an anti-tobacco mass media campaign in the previous 4 years
- Recent studies in China, India and Viet Nam show that awareness of anti-tobacco mass media campaigns strongly correlates with quit attempts
- TV ads with graphic imagery have been found to be especially effective in encouraging quitting
- In Senegal, 63 per cent of the population recalled a campaign and calls to a quit-line increased by 600%
Mr. Castro added: “We were delighted to see our Senegal anti-tobacco mass media campaign used as an example of best practice in this report. This campaign resulted in recall rates of 63%, an increase in non-smokers’ intentions not to smoke, greater concern over smoking among smokers, increased intention to quit and greater support for tobacco control policies including smoking bans. In addition, calls to a quit-line increased 600% during the campaign. This clearly shows that highly cost-effective mass media campaigns can deliver a significant impact in low and middle income countries currently the target of aggressive marketing efforts by the tobacco industry.
“We congratulate WHO on the publication of this report, which clearly demonstrates that progress is being made – but acknowledge that much more needs to be done. We stand ready to continue to work with governments around the world in order to help them understand how mass media can be used to improve public health and implement impactful campaigns in order to reduce the tobacco epidemic in their country.”
Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of mortality in the world today, and is responsible for nearly six million deaths each year—one in ten preventable deaths worldwide. The implementation of national-level mass media campaigns is one of the World Health Organization’s M-P-O-W-E-R (W=Warn) strategies to reduce tobacco consumption. MPOWER strategies are endorsed and promoted by the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, of which World Lung Foundation is a principal partner.