World Lung Foundation Supports New Public Education Campaigns in Asia and Europe for World No Tobacco Day
Monday, May 31, 2010
(New York, NY) -For World No Tobacco Day 2010, World Lung Foundation (WLF) is supporting the launch of new public education campaigns that graphically depict the health harms of tobacco use in Russia, China and India —three countries where the largest populations of smokers in the world live (The Tobacco Atlas, Third Edition, TobaccoAtlas.org).
Russia
WLF
provided materials and technical assistance to
the Ministries of Health in Chuvashia,
Krasnoyarsk, Samara and Tver, four key Russian
regions that are launching new campaigns about
the harmful effects of smoking and secondhand
smoke. Three of the regional ministries adapted
and aired an ad which graphically depicts the
health harms of secondhand smoke on children.
The ad, called "Cigarettes
are Eating Your Baby Alive," was originally
produced in New York City and was found to have
significant impact on Russian audiences in
previously conducted testing. The ad will air
beginning in May on national and regional TV
and radio, with supporting posters and
billboards. WLF also provided technical support
on the launch of a mass media campaign
announcing smoke-free medical facilities in
Krasnoyarsk.
In conjunction with the Moscow Duma's Public Health Committee, WLF is also presenting its mass media work at tobacco control conferences in Moscow at the end of May. These presentations will reach key political and medical professionals who are active in the fight against tobacco use in Russia.
China
WLF
guided the design and content of the World
Health Organization's (WHO) exhibition at the
Shanghai World Expo 2010, which will be visited
by an estimated 70 million people. The exhibit,
entitled "Tobacco: the burden, the solution,"
illustrates the devastating impact that tobacco
use can have on smokers and their loved ones.
WLF will also be showing a video reel of
hard-hitting, international tobacco control
advertisements to illustrate the importance of
tobacco control and smoke-free policies. The
exhibit will be located in the United Nations
pavilion at the World Expo from May
27-June 10, to coincide with the range of
activities planned to promote World No Tobacco
Day around the globe.
India
With
technical support from WLF, the Ministry of
Health & Family Welfare is launching the
"Sponge" campaign, a
creative approach that visually depicts the
amount of tar that collects inside an average
smoker's lungs. The nationwide campaign airs on
more than 40 TV and hundreds of nationwide
cinema theaters until June, in eleven
languages: English, Hindi, Tamil, Gujarati,
Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Oriya, Marathi,
Punjabi, and Bengali.
"World No Tobacco Day is a moment to highlight the global tobacco epidemic to policy makers, the health community and citizens around the world," said Sandra Mullin, Senior VP for Communications, World Lung Foundation. "From the data in our Tobacco Atlas (TobaccoAtlas.org), we know that more than 609 million people are tobacco users across China, Russia and India, so we are proud to be helping health ministries in these countries and many others across the globe in their efforts to change consumer opinion and public policy.
"WLF advocates and supports communication programs that use strong, visceral images to show the horrible effects of tobacco on people's health. Over the coming year, WLF aims to help more countries improve their communication campaigns to deliver similarly positive results."
Tobacco use is the leading preventable agent of death in the world today, and is responsible for more than five million deaths each year—one in ten adults worldwide. Within 25 years the death toll from tobacco will climb to more than eight million people per year, and it is estimated that half of all people who smoke today will eventually be killed by the direct or indirect effects of tobacco.
About World Lung Foundation
World
Lung Foundation was established in response to
the global epidemic of
lung disease, which kills 10 million people
each year. The organization
improves global lung health by improving local
capacity to conduct
research, develop public policy and deliver
public health education.
The organization's areas of emphasis are
tobacco control, tuberculosis,
HIV/AIDS, asthma, and child lung health. For
more information, please
visit worldlungfoundation.org
For more information, please contact:
Jorge Alday, World Lung Foundation, at +1 (212)
639 0070 or jalday@worldlungfoundation.org.