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WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY 2020
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A Message From HCC Youth Technical Advisor Pierre Cooke Jnr. on World No Tobacco Day 2020
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Statement from the Jamaica Coalition for Tobacco Control (JCTC) on World No Tobacco Day 2020
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Protecting the Jamaican Population from the Harms of Tobacco and Nicotine Use Imperative in the Wake of COVID-19 – says Jamaica Coalition for Tobacco Control ahead of World No Tobacco Day, May 31.
Protecting Jamaica’s population from the health harms of tobacco and nicotine use and preventing youth from ever using these harmful and highly addictive substances in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic is the focus of the Jamaica Coalition for Control’s (JCTC) World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) activities. World No Tobacco Day will be observed on Sunday, May 31.
Research has shown that smokers are more vulnerable to COVID-19. This knowledge has spurred the national WNTD theme: COVID is no joke, it gets worse with smoke. Though in Jamaica the WHO theme has been adapted based on current circumstances, the WHO theme Protecting Youth from Industry Manipulation and preventing them from Tobacco and Nicotine Use is still very relevant and highlights the tobacco industry’s targeting of youth in order to continuously supply a market for its deadly products.
“Preventing Jamaicans from becoming addicted and allowing their dreams to go up in smoke is the mission of the JCTC,” said chairman, Dr. Aggrey Irons.
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CARPHA Observes World No Tobacco Day
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CARPHA: "The use of tobacco products in any form harms nearly every organ of the body, irrespective of whether it is smoked, smokeless, or electronic. Chewing tobacco is an important risk factor for certain cancers” stated Dr. Joy St John, CARPHA Executive Director in observance of World No Tobacco Day 2020.
In the Caribbean region, tobacco use remains a major public health concern. It is a preventable risk factor for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), which are the leading cause of death, disease and disability among Caribbean people.
Dr St John further stated “There is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke. Secondhand smoke exposure causes stroke, lung cancer, and coronary heart disease in adults; and acute respiratory infections, severe asthma in children.”
A recent review by World Health Organization (WHO) found that smoking is associated with increased severity of disease and death in hospitalised COVID-19 patients.
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PAHO - World No Tobacco Day 2020
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The global campaign will debunk myths and expose devious tactics employed by these industries. It will provide young people with the knowledge required to easily detect industry manipulation and equip them with the tools to rebuff such tactics, thereby empowering young people to stand up against them. WHO calls on all young people to join the fight to become a tobacco-free generation.
This year, WHO is launching a counter-marketing campaign in response to the tobacco and related industries’ systematic, aggressive and sustained tactics to hook a new generation of users. The global campaign will debunk myths and expose devious tactics employed by these industries. It will provide young people with the knowledge required to easily detect industry manipulation and equip them with the tools to rebuff such tactics, thereby empowering young people to stand up against them.
WHO calls on all young people to join the fight to become a tobacco-free generation. This campaign will reinforce WHO’s work in assisting country-level implementation of effective policy interventions to reduce the demand for tobacco and protect against industry tactics to undermine global and national efforts to implement evidence-based tobacco control policies.
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PAHO Tobacco Control team answers youth questions about tobacco and nicotine industry tactics and strategies to hook new users. (Click/tap image to play)
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World No Tobacco Day 2020 - #TobaccoExposed
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WHO: This World No Tobacco Day WHO is launching a counter-marketing campaign in response to the tobacco and related industries’ systematic, aggressive and sustained tactics to hook a new generation of users. The global campaign will debunk myths and expose devious tactics employed by these industries. It will provide young people with the knowledge required to easily detect industry manipulation and equip them with the tools to rebuff such tactics, thereby empowering young people to stand up against them. WHO calls on all young people to join the fight to become a tobacco-free generation. This campaign will reinforce WHO’s work in assisting country-level implementation of effective policy interventions to reduce the demand for tobacco and protect against industry tactics to undermine global and national efforts to implement evidence-based tobacco control policies.
Protecting youth from industry manipulation and preventing them from tobacco and nicotine use
For decades, the tobacco industry has deliberately employed strategic, aggressive and well-resourced tactics to attract youth to tobacco and nicotine products. Internal industry documents reveal in-depth research and calculated approaches designed to attract a new generation of tobacco users, from product design to marketing campaigns aimed at replacing the millions of people who die each year from tobacco-attributable diseases with new consumers – youth.
In response to the tobacco and related industries’ systematic, aggressive and sustained tactics to attract a new generation of tobacco users, World No Tobacco Day 2020 will provide a counter-marketing campaign and empower young people to engage in the fight against Big Tobacco.
The World No Tobacco Day 2020 global campaign will serve to:
Debunk myths and expose manipulation tactics employed by the tobacco and related industries, particularly marketing tactics targeted at youth, including through the introduction of new and novel products, flavours and other attractive features;
Equip young people with knowledge about the tobacco and related industries’ intentions and tactics to hook current and future generations on tobacco and nicotine products; and Empower influencers (in pop culture, on social media, in the home, or in the classroom) to protect and defend youth and catalyze change by engaging them in the fight against Big Tobacco.
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The secret is out: The tobacco industry targets the vulnerable.
(Click/tap image to play)
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How are tobacco and related industries manipulating youth?
- Use of flavours that are attractive to youth in tobacco and nicotine products, like cherry, bubble gum and cotton candy, which encourages young people to underestimate the related health risks and to start using them
- Sleek designs and attractive products, which can also be easy to carry and are deceptive (e.g. products shaped like a USB stick or candy)
- Promotion of products as “reduced harm” or “cleaner” alternatives to conventional cigarettes in the absence of objective science substantiating these claims
- Celebrity/influencer sponsorships and brand sponsored contests to promote tobacco and nicotine products (e.g. Instagram influencers)
- Point-of-sale marketing at vendor outlets frequented by children, including positioning near sweets, snacks or soda and providing premiums for vendors to ensure their products are displayed near venues frequented by young people (includes providing marketing materials and display cases to retailers)
- Sale of single stick cigarettes and other tobacco and nicotine products near schools, which makes it cheap and easy for school children to access tobacco and nicotine products
- Indirect marketing of tobacco products in movies, TV shows and online streaming shows
- Tobacco vending machines at venues frequented by young people, covered in attractive advertising and pack displays, and undermining regulations on sales to minors
- Litigation to weaken all kinds of tobacco control regulations including warning labels, display at point of sale, and regulations that limit access and marketing to children (specifically provisions to ban the sale and advertising of tobacco products near schools)
Call to action
The world cannot afford another generation deceived by the lies of the tobacco industry, which pretends to promote freedom of personal choice while really ensuring eternal profits – regardless of the millions of people that pay with their life each year.
WHO urges influencers – in pop culture, on social media, in the home, or in the classroom – who reach and connect with youth to expose the industries’ manipulative tactics to create a new generation of tobacco users. We need to empower youth to stand up to Big Tobacco by dispelling its lies and refusing to use its products.
HOW CAN YOU JOIN THE FIGHT AGAINST THE TOBACCO EPIDEMIC?
- Celebrities and social influencers – Reject offers of “brand ambassadorship” and refuse any form of sponsorship by nicotine and tobacco industries.
- Social media companies – Ban advertising, promotion and sponsorship by the nicotine and tobacco industries and prohibit influencer marketing of tobacco or nicotine products.
- Film, television or drama production companies – Pledge not to depict tobacco use or e-cigarette use.
- Parents and relatives – Educate children and adolescents on the harms of nicotine and tobacco product use and empower them to reject industry manipulation.
- Nurses and health practitioners – Provide children, adolescents, young adults and their parents, with updated information about the risks associated with use of these products and empower users to quit through the offer of brief cessation advice.
- Schools – Raise awareness of the dangers of initiating nicotine and tobacco product use, adopt tobacco and e-cigarette free campuses, refuse any form of sponsorship by the nicotine and tobacco industries, and prohibit representatives from nicotine and tobacco companies from speaking at school events, school camps, etc.
- Youth groups – Organize local events to engage and educate your peers and build a movement for a tobacco-free generation. Advocate for the adoption of effective tobacco control policies in your community to curb and prevent the manipulation of nicotine and tobacco industries
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HCC Work in the Area of Tobacco Control
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Prevent20 Global Cancer Coalition
The HCC is working with the American Cancer Society’s Global Prevent20 initiative to mobilise Caribbean Cancer societies around tobacco control. Barbara McGaw, regional leader in tobacco control advocacy and HCC’s Tobacco Control Advisor as well as the volunteer Tobacco Advisor at the JCTC, is leading this effort in the region.
Read more |
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Civil Society Led Tobacco Control Advocacy in the Caribbean
The experiences of the Jamaica Coalition for Tobacco Control (JCTC)
This report documents best practices of the Jamaica Coalition for Tobacco Control (JCTC) and other Caribbean CSOs in the implementation of tobacco control measures within the region.
Read more |
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