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HALF a billion young Asians are at risk from diseases associated
with nicotine, a senior World Health Organization (WHO) official
said Friday in Manila, denouncing advertising directed at teenagers.
“Youngsters are led to believe that certain
types of cigarettes do not contain nicotine, when in fact they
do,” WHO Asia-Pacific Director Shigeru Omi said in a statement
issued on the eve of the WHO-designated “World No Tobacco Day.”
The WHO’s Asia-Pacific Regional Office is
based in Manila.
Omi said the tobacco industry’s marketing
campaign targets half a billion young people in the Western Pacific
“into trying their first stick.”
WHO estimates that each day, more than 3,000
people die prematurely from tobacco-related diseases in this region
alone.
Omi reiterated the UN agency’s call for a
total ban on tobacco advertising, saying partial bans merely allowed
companies to shift resources from one promotional tactic to another.
The WHO accused tobacco firms of “falsely
associating use of their products with desirable qualities, such as
glamor, energy and sex appeal, as well as exciting outdoor
activities and adventure.”
He said girls and young female adults were now a
key focus of these campaigns.
In the Philippines, four million youths smoke,
while two million more are exposed to smoking, Health department
official Yolanda Oliveros told the news conference.
The young smokers include 1.8 million girls,
said Oliveros, director of the National Center for Prevention
Disease Control.
-- AFP
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