Good morning, my name is Tania Amir and I am from Bangladesh, where I practice as a lawyer and health advocate. I work closely with Action on Smoking and Health from Britain, which is better known as ASH, and I am reading ASH's statement today. I hope this helps to underline an important message: tobacco is everybody's concern - as much in Dhaka as it is in London.
We have heard many complaints from the tobacco companiesthat 5 minutes and 5 pages is not enough to make their points. It certainly isn't enough for an adequateapology for their conduct or abuse of the truth over the last fifty years.
At least the tobacco industry gets to speak - we just hopethe ghosts of the 100 million people that died from tobacco in the 20th centurywill also make themselves heard at these hearings. We need to remember them because one thousand million tobacco-related deaths are projectedfor the 21st century unless the current trends change. That's a BILLION lives we are talkingabout here.
And that is why it is right for the World HealthOrganisation to be involved ... and that is why it is absolutely rightthat Dr. Brundtland has made tobacco a priority for W.H.O.
But we want to take our few minutes here to address some ofthe objections to the Framework Convention raised by the tobacco industry intheir submissions.
They say it isundemocratic, unwanted W.H.O-imposed regulation.
Well we respond that governments have asked for it, governments willnegotiate it and governments will sign and ratify it. There is no democratic deficit in thisConvention it reflects the will of 191 nations.
They say tobacco policyshould be done at national level and there is no place for internationalaction:
In contrast, we understand that we live in a globalisingworld - advertising flows across borders, smuggling exploits the trade system,and product standards, warnings, packaging and so on, all have internationalimplications. We need a treaty to deal with this.
They say that reducingtobacco consumption will cost jobs...
We point out that job losses to date are overwhelmingly dueto automation in tobacco manufacturing and farming. But even if jobs are lost,then we have to say "so be it". In the UK there are 140 years of lost life for every year of tobaccoindustry employment. We ask therefore - “where would YOU place the priority - human lives or tobacco jobs?”
A Final point thetobacco industry says that curbing the tobacco epidemic is just a westernagenda and developing countries have other things to worry about.
Well I can tell you - that's not how it's seen inBangladesh. And it's not how AfricanHealth ministers saw it at their meeting in October 1999. And it is not how it is seen by the HealthMinistry in China. In fact the idea that developing countries shouldn't worryabout tobacco comes from the old imperialist assumption that life is cheap indeveloping countries.
Life is not cheap anywhere and tobacco is a killer second tonone. That is why ASH, and our friendsfrom every corner of the globe will push as hard as we can to secure ameaningful treaty to reduce tobacco consumption and to have the world's mostaggressive and destructive industry brought under democratic and legal control.
I thank you for listening to these remarks.
