Should government bodies working towards public health invest in tobacco?

An article published in today's Times of India raises a pertinent question that is being debated the world over. Should countries who have ratified the framework convention of tobacco control (FCTC) treaty of the WHO, which states as it's main objective- public health as the main priority of the country, invest in the very cause of the problem? 'The tobacco companies that manufacture, distribute market and sell tobacco'

The Norweigen government that has been pro-tobacco control and has taken bold steps to curb the menace recently announced that the government would divest all of its shares from any companies that receive more than 5% of their profits from tobacco. Now that is a solid commitment towards public health. The Australian government recently rejected such a bill but has it's fair share of supporters.

So why exactly do government insurance companies invest in tobacco? Ofcourse strong and stable returns is a definite reason to invest in tobacco. Did you know that tobacco is probably one of the few companies that does well in times of war and recession. So we can understand why companies might want to invest in tobacco based on the returns and money they make(Not sure how they sleep at night though with all the invested money going into tobacco manufacture and in turn resulting in more cancer cases)

But the strong question still remains, is it ethical? As citizens of the country should we trust and believe in the health plans of a government that is in bed with the tobacco companies? Read in the article below the response of the LIC official. He says ITC is diversified and has social responsibility. How can a company with more than 70% of it's profits still coming from tobacco be diversified?

Should LIC invest in tobacco cos: NGO

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: Should government-run companies invest in tobacco firms? This is the question that Voices of Tobacco Victims (VoTV), an NGO working for cancer patients, has raised after its recent query under the RTI Act revealed that the Life Insurance Corporation of India has invested up to Rs 3,500 crore in various tobacco companies.
“It’s the greatest irony that the government spends Rs 10,000 crore on treatment of tobacco-related illnesses while investing Rs 3,500 crore in the industry causing it,’’ said Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, a senior cancer surgeon with Tata Memorial Hospital who is associated with VoTV.
On Thursday, VoTV circulated copies of the RTI reply from LIC dated July 15. LIC has mentioned that it has equity shares in tobacco major ITC Ltd worth Rs 3,561 crore, debentures worth Rs 50 crore in Dharampal Satyapal Ltd and equity shares in VST worth Rs 15.65 lakh.
VoTV wants the government to take an anti-tobacco stance especially since it was among the first to ratify the global anti-tobacco framework. The framework was worked out by the UN after it was medically established that tobacco products are harmful and could cause cancer.ITC no longer a tobacco co: LIC
Mumbai: Voices of Tobacco Victims (VoTV) has questioned the investments by government-run companies in tobacco firms. “Considering that over eight lakh Indians die every year due to tobacco-related diseases, the government should keep away from such investments,’’ said Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, adding that the Norwegian government had taken such a stance.
LIC’s Vipin Anand felt that the issue was being blown out of proportion. “ITC Ltd can no longer be considered a tobacco company. It has diversified into FMCG, hotels, books, etc and it also has social responsibility programmes such as Chaupal for rural India. We have had its stocks for long and they carry a lot of weight in the stock exchange,’’ he said.
Regarding LIC’s investments in Dharampal Satyapal Ltd, he said, “Like ITC Ltd, this company
too has diversified immensely. It has a presence in the hospitality sector as well as infrastructure.’’ However, he added, LIC has been offloading its investments in the third company, VST Industries, since 1993.

The Black yet profitable Business of Tobacco

China: What's that going up in smoke?

What's that going up in smoke? - China Daily
August 15, 2011

Cesar Chelala

Facing greater restrictions in the United States and other industrialized countries, transnational tobacco companies have intensified the marketing of their products in developing countries, particularly among women and adolescents.

For the past several years, multinationals such as Philip Morris, RJ Reynolds and British-American Tobacco have been expanding rapidly in Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.

While the percentage of smokers in some industrialized countries is falling by about 1 percent a year, in developing countries it is increasing by about 3 percent a year. It is estimated that if this trend continues for the next 30 years, smoking-related diseases will kill up to 7 million people a year in developing countries.

Tobacco-related deaths can only add to the inequities in health care of ethnic and poor populations. According to data from the Bureau of Census, US Department of Commerce, the number of Latino smoking youth in the United States will increase three times by 2020.

Since the early 1980s, US trade officials, with the help of the Office of the US Trade Representative, have led a sustained campaign to open markets in Asian countries and regions such as Japan, South Korea and Thailand. Their move has prompted the Asia Pacific Association for the Control of Tobacco to protest strongly against the "invasion of their countries" by US companies, which especially target Asian women and children. The association has complained against the strong-arm tactics used by US government officials, too.

In fact, a US General Accounting Office report has established that "US policy and programs for assisting the export of tobacco and tobacco products work at cross purposes to US health policy initiatives, both domestically and internationally".

Several studies have shown that in the poorest households in developing countries, 10 percent or more of the total household expenditure is on tobacco. As a result, there is less money to spend on necessities such as food, education and health care. This increases malnutrition, illiteracy and the chances of premature death.

In China, tobacco companies have been moving steadily inland with intense promotional campaigns. It is estimated that more than 350 million of the world's 1.71 billion smokers are in China, where lung cancer cases have been increasing by 4.75 percent a year.

The Chinese government is facing a dilemma in promoting anti-tobacco policies, because the earnings of State-run monopoly tobacco companies form a good part of its revenue. Research scholars with the School of Public Health at the University of California, however, say that increasing tobacco tax by 15 US cents (about 1 yuan) per cigarette pack could save more than 13 million lives and generate $9.5 billion in revenue for the Chinese government.

Lured by financial gains from growing tobacco, millions of hectares in China are under tobacco cultivation. Gains from the sale of tobacco may be short term, because the costs of treating lung cancer and other tobacco-related diseases far exceed the profits. According to experts, the extra cost worldwide could be up to $200 billion a year, one-third of which is incurred by developing countries.

While anti-smoking efforts gather momentum in the US, they are far less effective in developing countries. Such countries' policies will not be as effective as they should be unless transnational tobacco companies are made to curtail their aggressive advertisements.

Many countries in Asia and Latin America are conducting health-education campaigns and have passed legislation to control smoking. Up to now, several countries across the world have enacted legislation to curb tobacco consumption. Although generally such legislation has been passed at the national level, in the US, Canada and several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, provinces or local bodies are enacting these laws.

Despite increasing condemnation by public health officials and the World Health Organization, tobacco companies, especially multinationals, continue their indiscriminate and aggressive promotions in developing countries at the cost of human lives. As things stand now, only a multidisciplinary strategy that includes education, taxation, legislation and regulation of trade practices of transnational corporations can control this pandemic.

Source: China Daily
Category: Advertising & Sponsorship
Date: 15 August 2011

“Pratibimb” – VJTI College Festival

Pratibimb” was a great platform to reach out to the engineering students in Mumbai. At Pratibimb SFM was associated with the intra departmental competition of Fashion Show. The theme was kept as addiction and couple of team adopted smoking addiction as their theme. The show was a huge success and instantly connected to audience helping to spread the message to an enormous group. Also other events such as Marathi Street Plays and fine arts events had adopted smoking as their theme to support Smokefree Mumbai campaign.

‘Aavishkar” – G S Medical College Festival

At Aavishkaar, SFM launched its signature campaign through a press conference. The main aim of the signature campaign is to garner support from across all sections of Mumbai society and to file a petition with the appropriate authorities within the Maharashtra state government towards increasing the fine charged for the violation of the law from Rs. 200 to Rs. 500. Aavishkaar’s association with Smoke Free Mumbai was to support and create a platform to help spread the awareness amongst the students and medical fraternity of Mumbai. At Aavishkaar SFM was promoted through various events, including photography, t-shirt painting, rangoli , various sports events like Basketball and women Volleyball.

“Magma” – BGIMS College Festival

Street play at Magma festival was the highlight and gauged lot of attraction by the common man on the streets including the taxi drivers and long distance commuters.. The main events at the fest including workshop conducted by Drs from preventive oncology department of Tata memorial hospital; ad mad show, case study; debate, elocution and the signature campaign.

“Brouhaha – Sydenham College Festival

Students from ‘Brouhaha’ gave tremendous support to SFM and helped to gather support from the participating college students. At “Brouhaha we managed to collect thousand signatures. The main highlight was the street play performed by the students on Marine drive for Smoke Free Mumbai highlighting the harmful effects of smoking and passive smoking and encouraging Mumbai citizens to take proactive steps towards preventing instances of smoking in public places and help in building “Aamchi Mumbai Smoke Free Mumbai”. At ‘Brouhaha’ SFM was involved in major events including various fine arts like graffiti, ad mad, scripted chaos, debate etc to promote the law. The volunteers at these festivals wear wearing SFM T-Shirts in order to spread awareness for the campaign.

“Kshitij” – Mithibai College Festival

Kshitij was the perfect start to SFM’s association with college festivals. Smokefree Mumbai was associated with the cricket match and the final team members of the intercollegiate competition were wearing SFM T-Shirts during their match. Also various events including debate and other fine arts competition had incorporated SFM as their theme. Posters saying “I Choose to Say No” were put up across the college campus to spread the message. Signatures stalls were put up during the festival where volunteers educated the crowd about the law and collected signatures