Note: World Lung Foundation united with The Union North America. From January 2016, the combined organization is known as “Vital Strategies.”
(New York, USA) – Peter Baldini, Chief Executive, World Lung Foundation (WLF) today issued the following statement of congratulations to the Ministry of Health of Turkey:
“We were delighted to see recent data from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) in Turkey. In a relatively short period of time – between 2008 and 2012 – the government has been able to deliver sharp nationwide declines both in adult smoking and in exposure to secondhand smoke. Turkey has achieved such rapid results because it is the first country in the world to implement the full range of policies to address each of World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) M-P-O-W-E-R (MPOWER) strategies to reduce tobacco use.
“We always knew that MPOWER strategies worked; what Turkey’s experience proves is that a comprehensive approach – including, tobacco taxation, smoke-free public spaces, warning labels, mass media campaigns, and bans on tobacco advertising and sponsorship – could lead to population-level behaviour change. The vast majority of these policies do not require significant spending and indeed some, like tax increases, often turn out to be revenue neutral or revenue positive for Ministries of Finance. Governments just need to commit to protecting their citizens’ health – and to building support for their policies through social marketing campaigns.
“Since 2009, World Lung Foundation has assisted the Ministry of Health of Turkey and its civil society partners in selecting, adapting and running effective, national-level, anti-tobacco advertisements containing hard hitting messages about the risks of tobacco use. These campaigns have helped to educate citizens about the real harms of tobacco and built support for the implementation and enforcement of the new tobacco control laws. Moreover, due to the government’s recognition of the potency of these campaigns, its tobacco control legislation mandated dedicated television and radio programming time on all public and private channels to public education around tobacco use, enabling it to cost-effectively sustain ongoing mass media messages. Turkey’s continued commitment to hard-hitting, blunt messaging will contribute to further reductions in smoking.
“World Lung Foundation would like to congratulate Turkey’s Ministry of Health on its superb results to date. Turkey has proven itself to be an innovative world leader in the field of tobacco control, setting an example for other countries across the globe. But we also urge the government and civil society to keep pushing and not to wave a victory flag: smoking rates are still far too high and the cause of hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths in turkey. We also know the tobacco industry will do anything in its power to reduce tobacco control progress.”
According to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey:
• Turkey’s adult smoking rate fell from 31.2 percent (16 million smokers) in 2008 to 27.1 percent (14.8 million smokers) in 2012 – a reduction of 13.4 percent
• Exposure to secondhand smoke in restaurants fell from 55.9 percent in 2008 to just 12.9 percent in 2012 – a reduction of 77 percent
• Declines in exposure to secondhand smoke were also seen in workplaces, public transportation, government buildings and even in homes
• Health warnings on cigarette packages had been noticed by 94.3 percent of current smokers. This had encouraged more current smokers to think about quitting – 53 percent in 2012 compared to 46.3 percent in 2008
• Nearly half of all smokers (46 percent) tried to quit in the last month
• 92percent of adults noticed anti-cigarette information on the television or radio
• 96 percent of all adults believe smoking and secondhand smoke cause serious illness and 95.5 percent of all adults are in favour of smoking bans in workplaces and public places
• Tax increases mean the real cost of a cigarette pack has increased substantially, which studies show is a highly effective way to reduce smoking.
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.