India Ministry of Health & Family Welfare Partners with World Lung Foundation on New Tobacco Control Campaign
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Contact: Jorge Alday, Public Relations Manager
(New York and Delhi, India) – World Lung Foundation (WLF) is supporting India's Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, to launch a new mass media campaign that visually depicts the amount of tar that collects inside an average smoker's lungs. The nationwide campaign, called ‘Sponge,' is being aired across 40 TV and 28 radio channels until July 2009 in five languages – English, Hindi, Tamil, Gujarti and Bengali.
‘Sponge,'
which was tested rigorously among focus groups
in India, has already
been utilized in tobacco control campaigns in
number of regions of the
world, with measurable impact. The ad has now
been adapted for India's
diverse audience. The campaign aims to inform
millions of Indian
smokers about the serious impact tobacco has on
their health and to
motivate them to quit before they become
sick.
This
campaign is one in a series of the Ministry of
Health and Family
Welfare is planning to warn against the dangers
of tobacco use. BK
Prasad, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health
& Family Welfare, said:
"Our government is committed to reducing the
toll tobacco and creating
awareness about the hazards of tobacco usage
among smokers as well as
non-smokers. This campaign uses a
scientific approach to developing
and delivering a clear message about the
personal dangers of smoking
and builds on an earlier campaign that warned
Indians about the harm
passive smoking does to others. We look
forward to our continued
collaboration with WLF on this and other
effective media campaigns."
"Millions are misinformed about the health impact of tobacco use in India and ‘Sponge' will help us correct this problem," Jagdish Kaur, Chief Medical Officer, National Tobacco Control Program said. "The campaign clearly depicts the poison in tobacco and what it physically does to human lungs."
Sandra Mullin, Senior VP
Communications,
World Lung Foundation said, "People who smoke
may know it is bad for
their health but they often don't know how bad.
Blunt, graphic warnings
explain the serious sickness tobacco causes
much more vividly. We are
honored to be in partnership with the Ministry
of Health & Family
Welfare as we send this message across India".
Research
has shown that mass media campaigns are one of
the most effective means
to encourage people to stop smoking. It is one
of the World Health
Organization's M-P-O-W-E-R
(W=Warn) strategies to reduce tobacco
consumption. MPOWER strategies
are endorsed and promoted by the Bloomberg
Initiative to Reduce Tobacco
Use, of which World Lung Foundation is a
principal partner.
Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of mortality in the world today, and is responsible for more than five million deaths each year – one in ten adults worldwide. In India, it kills almost one million people each year.
"Sponge" campaign reproduced by the World Lung Foundation with permission of the Cancer Institute, New South Wales, owner.
***NOTE TO EDITORS: Screen shots and video copies of all ads are available upon request.
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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