• create new profile

    Print this Page Email this Page

Aliança de Controle do Tabagismo Launches New Second-Hand Smoke Campaign

Contact:  Jorge Alday, Public Relations Manager  

(New York and Sao Paulo) –  Aliança de Controle do Tabagismo (ACT) will launch a new mass media campaign on July 26th to support the implementation of a new smoke‐free law in Sao Paulo this September. The campaign, which will begin airing on a leading TV show called Fantastico, by TV Globo, was developed in partnership with Instituto Nacional de Cancer with technical and financial support from World Lung Foundation and the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use.

The campaign, titled "Quem Não Fuma Não é Obrigado a Fumar," includes a 30 second commercial for TV and cinemas, a radio spot, pamphlets, outdoor billboards and buses and a website. Created by EURO RSCG Contemporanea and produced by Kombat, the campaign was tested in focus groups and explains that secondhand smoke in bars and restaurants harms both customers and workers.

"For us, this campaign is crucial to warn the population in general and smokers about the harm caused by cigarette smoke, especially for people in the hospitality industry", says Paula Johns, ACT's executive director. "It also serves to remind people why 100% smoke‐free areas will benefit smokers and non‐smokers."

"Quem Não Fuma Não é Obrigado a Fumar" publicizes the fact that at least seven non‐smokers die every day in Brazil due to second‐hand smoke. Exposure to secondhand smoke is also a major risk factor for lung cancer, heart attacks and other serious illnesses.

"ACT and INCA are recognized leaders for their efforts to protect people from the harms of tobacco," said Peter Baldini, Chief Executive Officer, World Lung Foundation. "We are honored to be working with them on this campaign, which we hope will help the people of Sao Paulo understand that they have a right breathe smoke‐free air."

In order to highlight that everyone has a right to a 100% smoke‐free environment, Instituto Nacional de Cancer (INCA) is also releasing the following facts about the harms of second‐hand smoke:

• Even with a window or a balcony there is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke and no ventilation systems can clear the carcinogens in the air
• Of the more than 4,000 chemicals that have been identified in second‐hand tobacco smoke, at least 250 are known to be harmful, and 60 of these are known to cause cancer
• People who live with smokers inhale the equivalent of 10 cigarettes per day and have six times more chance of developing lung cancer compared to those who do not live with smokers
• Non‐smoking waiters exposed to smoke in bars and restaurants have as much as twice the chance of getting lung cancer than their colleagues that work in smoke‐free environments

Campaign images and materials are available for download at the WLF website and the
campaign website which also links to ACT and INCA. Through the campaign website, Brazilians
can sign a petition to support a change in the federal law, prohibiting designated areas for
smoking.

# # #

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