Note: World Lung Foundation united with The Union North America. From January 2016, the combined organization is known as “Vital Strategies.”
(September 1st, 2015, Beijing, China and New York, USA) – World Lung Foundation welcomed new tobacco advertising restrictions which have come into effect in China today and encouraged local and national authorities to ensure the new laws are fully enforced. The new regulations extend existing laws and stop some previous exemptions, prohibiting the advertisement of tobacco products in mass media, in public places, on public transport, and outdoors – particularly marketing and advertising targeted at minors.
Sandra Mullin, Senior Vice President, Policy and Communications, World Lung Foundation, said: “In the past, tobacco marketing and advertising was prevalent across nearly every aspect of China’s society. From broadcast, print and billboard advertising to sponsorship of events and even schools, the Chinese people, particularly youth, were constantly exposed to tobacco marketing and advertising messages. The terrible toll this caused in popularizing and normalizing smoking – particularly among men – and in encouraging youth to initiate the habit, cannot be underestimated. But as the true human, health and economic cost of tobacco has become more evident, China’s government has recognized that the need for change has become ever more urgent.
“These new tobacco advertising restrictions are a necessary part of that change. Tobacco advertising doesn’t tell customers the truth – that tobacco products cause disease, death and economic loss among smokers and non-smokers. Instead, tobacco advertising has for decades sold false images of masculinity, popularity or sophistication. We should not underestimate the challenge of undoing those perceptions, nor the effect of tobacco advertising in attracting new young smokers and keeping millions of Chinese men, women and children addicted to this deadly product.
“We encourage authorities across China to strongly enforce the new regulations so this harmful campaign of misinformation can’t continue to target youth. Indeed, banning all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship is one of the most cost-effective measures governments can take to protect public health. For our part, we will continue to support mass and social media campaigns that tell smokers and non-smokers the truth about tobacco and its deadly harm. Both strategies are essential to changing perceptions and behaviour, preventing smoking initiating among the young, encouraging quitting and helping to reduce the burden of tobacco-related non-communicable diseases among China’s people.”
About tobacco use in China
The Tobacco Atlas notes that 45.3 percent of men and 2.1 percent of women in China smoke tobacco. The proportion of men who smoke is greater than the average for middle income countries. In addition, 18 percent of boys and 0.5 percent of girls use tobacco daily. Again, the proportion of boys who smoke is greater than the average for middle income countries. This means that more than 275,900,000 adults and more than 8,937,000 children continue to use tobacco each day. Tobacco is the cause of 19.5 percent of adult male deaths and 11.9 percent of adult female deaths – suggesting that many women are dying as a result of exposure to second-hand smoke. The proportion of tobacco-related deaths among men and women is higher than the average in middle-income countries. More than 1,384,200 Chinese citizens are killed by tobacco-related diseases every year.
Research has shown that mass media campaigns are one of the most effective means to encourage people to stop using tobacco. Hard-hitting campaigns can compel tobacco users to quit, increase knowledge of the health risks of tobacco use, and promote behavior change in both smokers and non-smokers. It 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.