World No-Tobacco Day Focuses on Tobacco-Free Sports

Washington, DC, 30 May 2002 (PAHO)-- World No-Tobacco Day, celebrated around the world every May 31st, will focus on keeping sports free of all forms of tobacco, according to the Pan American Health Organization.

"There are many difficult choices that public health has to make. This choice is not a difficult one: We can sell cigarettes, or we can protect our children," said PAHO Director Dr. George Alleyne. "The cost of the first is unacceptably high, while the while the benefit of the second has no price.. PAHO urges sports events to refuse tobacco sponsorship and to make their venues smoke-free. We also urge governments to prohibit the use of sports - or any other event sponsorship - to promote tobacco products. There has never been a better opportunity than now."

In Washington, PAHO is organizing a special World No-Tobacco Day event May 31 at 10:30 a.m., in conjunction with the World No-Tobacco Day Coalition, headed by Jesse Brown. A uthor and advocate Ross Hammond will be the keynote speaker and a series of awards will be announced recognizing contributions to reduction or elimination of promotion of tobacco through sports sponsorship,in sports facilities or during sports events, and in the creation of smoke-free sports facilities and events. A progress report will be presented on the Smoke Free Americas initiative, launched last year by PAHO to support the implementation of smoke-free public places and workplaces.

The World Cup, the world's biggest sporting event, will be completely tobacco free in 2002. The kick-off of the World Cup soccer championship, in Seoul, Republic of Korea coincides with World No Tobacco Day May 31. FIFA's Director of Communications, Keith Cooper, said, "The Tobacco-Free World Cup aims above all to enable the non-smoking majority to enjoy the games without a cloud of somebody else's pollutant hanging around them. This is nothing less than what must become a normal service to fee-paying, non-smoking members of the public."

The Olympic Games have also been tobacco free since 1988, and FIFA received a tobacco control award from the World Health Organization this year.

World No Tobacco Day was created in 1987 to draw global attention to the tobacco epidemic and the preventable death and disease it causes. The yearly observation serves to inform the public on the dangers of using tobacco and what people around the world can do to claim their right to health and healthy living and to protect future generations.

In his message for World No Tobacco Day, Dr. Alleyne said, "It is quite clear that tobacco and sports do not mix. Athletic excellence is the paragon of health, and is the antithesis of a body polluted with tobacco smoke, addicted to nicotine and unable to breathe freely. The vast majority of athletes, amateur and professional, do not smoke and are well aware that smoking harms their health and abilities."

"Sports events and venues serve as potent images that influence our culture and behavior," Dr. Alleyne said, "It is difficult to convince parents to make their homes smoke free, or employers to make their workplaces smoke free, when events that showcase athletic performance allow air polluted by cigarette smoke to be breathed by participants and spectators alike."

He said children may learn in school "that tobacco is bad for them, but seeing their sports heroes beside tobacco brand names on television, on billboards, and in magazines, speaks far more powerfully than a school lesson. The tactic works. Research shows that children are most aware of cigarette brands that are associated with televised sports events."

"Governments that have courageously banned tobacco sponsorships have learned that other sponsors will step in to replace tobacco companies. The new marketplace, fortunately, offers a plethora of goods and services that are looking for increased profile and that rarely approach the damage caused by tobacco products." Dr. Alleyne added.

PAHO, which also serves as the Regional Office of the Americas for the World Health Organization, has been working since 1902 with all the countries of the Americas to improve the health and raise the living standards of their peoples.

Related Information:
PAHO BOOKS:
Tobacco-free Youth: A "life skills" primer
Tobacco or Health: Status in the Americas : A Report of the Pan American