September 30, 2003	Tuesday	Sha’aban 3, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Sept 29: Different civil society organizations on Monday demanded a complete ban on promotion of tobacco in all forms to ensure a healthy society.

The organizations, including WHO and International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), during a seminar sponsored by The Network for Consumer Protection, joined hands against tobacco industry’s promotion of its products.

During the seminar, they alleged that a leading tobacco company was contacting different organizations and influentials in tobacco control and tobacco-research communities to solicit their participation in ‘Civil Society Stakeholder Discussion Forum’. The forum is scheduled for September 30 in a local hotel.

The proposed dialogue is being portrayed as an effort to initiate dialogue on social reporting efforts of the tobacco company, they alleged. In the absence of any evidence regarding sincerity of the tobacco company in either admitting the true nature of its products or their harmful effects, no social objective can be achieved.

They announced to boycott these discussions and proposed that if the tobacco industry was sincere in their efforts for a constructive dialogue they should publicly admit that their product was addictive and a cause of premature deaths and disabling disease. They should also admit that their products were responsible for the premature deaths of 100,000 people in Pakistan and should also voluntarily withdraw from all kinds of direct or indirect tobacco promotion and facade of social responsibility tactics.

The participants said the tobacco company should also prepare a phasing out plan for their businesses in Pakistan, including finding alternative livelihoods for tobacco growers, retailers and workers.

They said tobacco was a product which violated all consumer rights and was one of the leading causes of preventable premature deaths and disabling diseases.

To decrease the incidence of these deaths, urgent actions need to be taken in the following areas like introducing a comprehensive ban on both direct and indirect tobacco promotion and sponsorship, development of plans for crop diversification to help tobacco-growers find new alternatives for their livelihood, setting up of smoking cessation clinics to help smokers quit, redress mechanisms to hold tobacco industry liable for the damage it causes and creating awareness of consumers about the health, economic, social and environmental effects of tobacco use.

They said the organization was aware of the tobacco companies’ ability to use events such as this ‘Civil Society Stakeholder Discussion Forum’ as part of a broad, carefully calculated strategy to improve their image with policymakers, jurors and the public.