T C K e y M e s s a g e s

ISSUES KEY MESSAGES

Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship

Tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship encourage people, especially youth, to use tobacco, encourage tobacco users to use more, decrease users’ motivation to quit, and encourage quitters to relapse.

The tobacco industry engages in a comprehensive marketing strategy to create the impression that tobacco use is widespread, socially acceptable, and glamorous.

A comprehensive ban on advertising, promotion, and sponsorship reduces tobacco use; partial bans have limited or no effect on tobacco consumption.

Parties to the FCTC are required to implement comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorships within five years of ratifying the FCTC as a part of an effective set of tobacco control policies.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Article 13 of the FCTC requires a complete ban on all forms of advertising, promotion, and sponsorship, including CSR. CSR done by the tobacco industry should be banned.

CSR works in the tobacco industry’s favor by building goodwill with policymakers and the public, countering negative attention surrounding its deadly products, and defusing opposition from tobacco control advocates.

The devastating harm to societies and families caused by tobacco-caused death and disease greatly outweighs the overall benefits of philanthropy or sponsorship of social causes.

Tobacco consumption negatively affects those living in poverty, and any financial contribution made by companies responsible for increasing the health harms and financial burden of this population will not alleviate poverty, environmental, or health issues and is likely to make them worse.

Point of sale (POS) advertising and promotion

Point of sale advertising is a powerful form of advertising used by the tobacco industry to sell its products and is especially effective with youth and smokers trying to quit.

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ISSUES KEY MESSAGES

Comprehensive bans of tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship are essential to reduce tobacco use.

Tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship bans must include point of sale.

Tobacco and Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs)

NCDs are the leading causes of death in the world.

NCDs burden health systems, reduce productivity, and can cause poverty.

Tobacco use is the leading preventable risk factor for NCDs.

Tackling the NCD epidemic through the full implementation of the FCTC is both cost-effective and feasible.

Smoke-free Environments

Secondhand smoke is a known cause of death and disease. There is no safe level of secondhand smoke exposure.

Smoke-free laws improve public health by reducing the public’s exposure to secondhand smoke, helping smokers reduce cigarette consumption, and helping smokers quit.

Smoke-free laws do not harm the hospitality industry. In fact, in some countries smoke-free laws have shown to benefit the economy.

The only effective way to protect the public from secondhand smoke is to enact comprehensive smoke-free laws that cover all indoor workplaces and public places. Partial laws and/or designated smoking areas or rooms do not work.

Parties to the FCTC are legally obligated to adopt and implement effective smoke-free legislation.

Smoke-free laws are feasible for every country regardless of culture, climate, and income level.

Health Harms of Secondhand Smoke There is no safe level of secondhand smoke exposure. Exposure to secondhand smoke causes death, disease, and disability among non-smoking adults and children.

Adults exposed to secondhand smoke in the workplace are at greater risk for developing tobacco-related health problems than adults who work in

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ISSUES KEY MESSAGES

smoke-free environments.

Women and children are disproportionately harmed by secondhand smoke due to their increased exposure from male smokers.

Smoke-free laws save lives, protect workers’ health, and immediately improve public health.

Smoke-Free Laws Benefit the Economy

Exposure to secondhand smoke increases healthcare and medical costs.

Smoke-free laws can help businesses improve their profits by increasing worker productivity and decreasing costs associated with allowing smoking.

Smoke-free laws do not harm the hospitality industry. In some cases, smoke-free laws have a positive impact on the hospitality industry.

Smoke-free Laws Improve Public Health

Smoke-free laws reduce secondhand smoke exposure and improve indoor air quality.

Smoke-free laws reduce cigarette consumption and help smokers quit.

Smoke-free laws save lives and have immediate public health impacts.

Partial Smoke-Free Laws Do Not Work

There is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke. The only effective way to protect people is to provide 100% smoke-free air and eliminate smoking in indoor environments.

Partial smoke-free laws, ventilation systems, designated smoking rooms, and designated smoking areas do not protect the public and workers from the deadly effects of secondhand smoke.

100% smoke-free laws help guarantee the fundamental right to breath clean air for all, protect the health of workers and non-smokers, and encourage smokers to quit.

Taxation and Price Raising tobacco taxes is the single most effective way to reduce tobacco use and save lives.

Higher tobacco taxes target our most vulnerable populations, preventing youth from starting to smoke and helping low-income populations quit.

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ISSUES KEY MESSAGES

Higher tobacco taxes increase government revenues, even with reduced consumption.

Increased revenue from tobacco taxes can provide the government with funds for other tobacco control efforts, further reducing tobacco use and saving lives.

Warning Labels

The tobacco package is an essential communication vehicle for the tobacco industry; tobacco companies depend on tobacco package design to build brand recognition and promote sales.

Pictorial health warning labels communicate the risks of tobacco use.

Effective warning labels increase knowledge about risks associated with smoking and can decrease intentions to smoke among adolescents persuade smokers to quit, and keep ex-smokers from starting again.

Graphic warning labels have a greater impact than text-only labels and can be recognized by low-literacy audiences and children — two vulnerable population groups.

Effective warning labels are large, clear, rotating, cover at least 50% of the total tobacco pack and consist of both text and graphic images.

Pictorial warning labels counter tobacco industry advertising on tobacco products, increase knowledge about risks associated with tobacco use, reduce adolescents’ intentions to smoke, and motivate smokers to quit.

Parties to the FCTC are required to implement effective measures to warn against the harmful impact of tobacco use on all tobacco product packaging within three years of ratification.

Parties to the FCTC are required to implement large, clear, rotating health warnings on all tobacco product packaging within three years of ratifying the FCTC.

Women and Tobacco Tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke are a leading cause of death for women.

Because the prevalence of smoking is much higher in men than in women, secondhand smoke disproportionately harms women.

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ISSUES KEY MESSAGES

The tobacco industry views the female population as an opportunity for growth and aggressively markets products towards them.

The number of women smokers in the Africa will increase if no action is taken to stop tobacco companies from targeting women and girls.

Strong action must be taken to protect women from the harms of tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke. Tobacco control policies, such as smoke-free environments, tobacco marketing bans, graphic warning labels, and increased tobacco taxes reduce tobacco use and will save the lives of women in Africa.

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Why tobacco control is criticalTobacco use creates both health and economic burdens and is the leading preventable risk factor for non-communicable disease and death. Efforts must be directed toward supporting cost-effective tobacco control measures that are proven to reduce tobacco use and prevent these consequences. The tobacco industry understands that tobacco control measures are effective in preventing and reducing tobacco use, and has a history of using the same arguments against tobacco control to slow the legislative process. In order to best help support effective tobacco control measures, advocates must understand the real health and economic consequences of tobacco use at the national level, as well as the steps necessary to implement these measures and counter industry attempts to hamper this process.

Ultimately, reducing and preventing tobacco use will improve individual health, increase household spending on food and education, and improve economic productivity.

Tobacco kills more than 6 million people a year. By 2030, the number of deaths will increase to 8 million each year.

Tobacco-related illnesses account for 1 in 10 adult deaths worldwide. By 2030, 80% of those deaths will be in developing countries.

Tobacco-related illnesses and premature mortality negatively impact the economy. Lost economic opportunities due to sick workers and premature deaths during prime productive years are particularly severe in developing countries where tobacco use is high and growing.

Continued development and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is dependent on a healthy population. Tobacco use is the leading cause of non-communicable diseases and death from lung cancer and heart disease.

Tobacco-related illness and premature death impose high productivity costs and loss of labor because most tobacco-related deaths occur during the prime productive years.

According to the World Bank, Sub-Saharan Africa will be the region hardest-hit by the non-communicable disease crisis. If left unchecked, chronic diseases will account for 46% of all deaths by 2030, up from 28% in 2008. At the same time, these countries will continue to grapple with the widespread prevalence of communicable diseases such as HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, and mother and child conditions, thus facing a “double burden” of disease, further taxing already insufficient health systems and impacting economic growth.

Tobacco production and use damage the environment and divert agricultural land that could be used to grow food.

Why legislation is necessaryDespite the health and economic costs associated with tobacco use, tobacco companies like British American Tobacco-Uganda (BAT-U) continues to

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protect profits by acting to increase market shares and the amount of cigarettes consumed each year.

Ugandans are directly targeted by the tobacco industry seeking to grow market shares and increase volumes. BAT-U sells a product that kills, and every attempt to expand the market leads to the future death of Ugandans.

Tobacco control measures that effectively implement the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) are proven to decrease tobacco consumption and prevent this sought-after increase in tobacco users by the tobacco industry. Suggest that this be tailored by Ugandan advocates familiar with the bill’s content- should outline the provision of the bill that will reduce tobacco use (i.e. SF, TAPS, etc).

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