PAHO Urges Government Action on World Bank Report Saying Tobacco Control Policies Not Harmful to Economy

Washington, DC, May 31, 2000—The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day, urged governments to implement the recommendations of a new World Bank report concluding that tobacco control policies work, and do not harm the economy.

Curbing the Epidemic: Governments and the Economics of Tobacco Control, dispels three commons myths successfully used by the tobacco industry and others to dissuade action on tobacco: That smoking is an adult choice, that tobacco control policies don't work, and that reducing tobacco use will harm the economy.

"Contrary to popular belief, there is a strong rationale for governments to intervene to reduce tobacco use," said Dr. George Alleyne, Director of the Pan American Health Organization. "Tobacco control measures benefit health, and governments have nothing to fear from their impact on the economy."

Some 625,000 people in the Western Hemisphere die each year because of tobacco-caused disease. "When we know what works, and when we know the high cost of inaction, there is an imperative to act. Governments in the region must address tobacco use in a serious manner if they want to reduce future tobacco deaths," Dr. Alleyne said.

Among the measures that the World Bank concludes are most cost-effective are tobacco taxation, advertising bans, package health messages and public information campaigns, restrictions on smoking, programs to help smokers quit, and smuggling controls. The study found that some of the measures more commonly implemented to address tobacco use, such as restrictions on tobacco sales to young people and school education, are less effective.

The report also concludes that almost without exception, the elimination of tobacco from the economy will have a neutral or positive impact on the economy. Resources spent on tobacco would be reinvested elsewhere in the economy, and almost always on goods and services with fewer externalized costs than tobacco.

Alleyne concluded, "In public health, we must turn evidence into action. The World Bank report provides the evidence. But governments, in partnership with civil society, must provide the action. The Pan American Health Organization will support tobacco control efforts in any way possible."

World No Tobacco Day, celebrated every May 31 since 1989, was created to encourage smokers to give up smoking and to raise public awareness about the health impact of tobacco. The theme this year, "Quit the Dependency: Tobacco Costs Too Much," sends the message that government and society, as well as smokers, must share responsibility for reducing the individual and societal dependency on tobacco.

The Pan American Health Organization, founded almost 100 years ago, works with all the nations in the hemisphere to protect health and promote healthy policies. Known as PAHO, the organization is the regional office for the Americas of the World Health Organization.